Episode 20: One cannot enter the same river twice

Nagye and Sidra stood on standby, waiting for the guild master’s signal. All the other teams whispered amongst themselves how it was going to be so easy today since the mages’ daughter was present again.

Sidra went to the training weapons basket and grabbed a shield and a short mace.

Sidra: (to protect and ease suffering, may the goddess bless these weapons with power)

The instructors went to hide, and shortly after, a bird-like whistle was heard

guild master: everyone ready?, today you must reach the basket we placed along the route, it will be easily identifiable, grab one of the rocks there, and bring it back. You may commence

Most teams took the lead, away from Nagye and Sidra; other teams just stayed behind to know what places to avoid. Our protagonists went on their way as well, and when sufficiently away, the bird was sent in the search for threats again, but this time it was carrying a rock in each foot

Sidra: Is it like yesterday?

Nagye: y-yes, they are coming, but, this time will be different (I’ll be a good leader, I will not fail)

Nagye maneuvered the bird to fly behind enemy lines, and then made it rapidly spin in the air, to then release a rock, hitting unsuspecting instructors with respectable force and distracting them, because it was clear they were going in Nagye’s direction.

Sidra: So that's also possible? most wonderful

Nagye: I-I’m just a beginner at this, and there’s no umm, well, I don’t know any books that talk about something like this, it’s something Taro helped me come up with yesterday, so it's not perfect, I-I mean, it’s not a p-polished technique, I still have to make my bird pick up rocks after making 2 shots—-

Sidra: it may not be perfect, but it is impressive nonetheless (how did he manage to come up with this?, and also Shizuka’s shield, I guess the Transported have knowledge that we cannot yet imagine)

They continued to sprint, check for enemies, aerial attack, distraction, rinse and repeat, the tactic was proving to be effective, they were further ahead compared to the previous day. Various instructors gave up in the pursuit of them and took the opportunity to ambush other teams instead

Sidra: (I was getting so worked up thinking that I’d have to fight to protect her, but she really was telling the truth when she said today would be different, it’s an impressive display of advanced mana control, I don’t understand why she doubts herself constantly) may I ask a question?

Nagye: s-sure

Sidra: I intend no ill in asking, so forgive me if I come off as insensitive. May I know why you think so little of yourself?

Nagye: huh? umm, well, I’m supposed to be the court mages’ daughter, they are powerful magicians capable of very powerful mana control. They specialize in Mana Casting and Mana Composition, yet I… i ha-have been a failure all my life, flying this bird is one of the few th-things that I can do well

Sidra: But you can do it well, most people can't do it.

Nagye: yeah but, I-it’s not enough—

Sidra: I think you should not doubt yourself so much. the goddess may be watching, and treating yourself harshly may sadden her

Nagye: …I-I’ll try to remember that—-

Sidra: Wait, did you hear that?, the grass, someone’s close!

a mace flew from within the tall grass, but this time, Sidra got in its way with her shield, then Ari, the shield instructor and the mace instructor from yesterday jumped out, all covered in dry grass camouflage

Nagye: So that's why I couldn't see them!

Ari: you’re not the only ones refining your techniques, prepare yourselves!

shield instructor: this is gonna be so easy man, these girls wouldn’t raise a finger to save their lives

After saying that with a devious-sounding tone, he let out a creepy laugh, sticking his tongue out. Nagye flinched to the sight, Sidra was annoyed by it

Sidra: (wasn’t he the one who rammed me over yesterday? now he’s acting so arrogant about it…)

mace instructor: we should tie them up and leave them in the grass till the day is over huehuehue

shield instructor: why are you looking at me like that? hehehe, it’s not like you can do anything anyway

Sidra saw her younger self reflected in those words, “What are you gonna do about it? cry?, cry then, because you’re too weak to do anything”

Sidra: (these guys… are bullies) …I have pledged to ease suffering, I will not let you hurt us, not with your weapons, nor with your words

shield instructors: hehehe, big words for a wimp

there was no more need for words, Sidra and the shield instructor clashed their shields and the battle had started

Sidra pushed and swung her mace wildly; the instructor was surprised he was having so much trouble to take her down

Nagye: (I can’t help her, they’re too close to each other!, but, I know what can I do)

Ari and the mace instructor wanted to flank Sidra, but before they could get close, something hit them, solid like rock, and fast like a whip

Ari: huh?, what was that?

Nagye: I won’t let you; your opponent is me! (I can't believe I really said that, just like in the hero books!)

Ari realized there were two birds flying around rapidly, and whenever they would approach her or the other instructor, they would start spinning and manifesting a mace made of pure crystalized mana to strike them unpredictably

Ari: there’s 2 of them? watch out!, the birds---

shield instructor: I need a bit of help here, she’s stronger than I thought!

Sidra was taking hits head on, but she was engulfed in luminous green mana

shield instructor: is this, the Healing Grace? woah!—-

Sidra grabbed him by the shield and the pants, and swung him around before throwing it to the grass in the distance

Sidra: (I really just threw him, just like I would throw other kids around) ... I’m really becoming a monster, I’m a monster…

Ari took the chance to quickly engage Sidra, letting her no time to rest. Nagye could not risk hitting Sidra by mistake, so she focused both her birds on beating the spear instructor, who was having trouble figuring out how to fight such small and nimble foes

Sidra: please Ari, don’t do this, I’m a monster, I don’t want to hurt you

Ari: If you think you can, I want to see you try!

Sidra kept eating direct hits and swinging her mace and shield wildly, after realizing that wasn’t working, she threw them at Ari, in favor of punching

Sidra: now I’ve done it, I’ve become a monster, my strength, my fists, they are back, a monster, out of control, unstoppable, you’ll hate me, they’ll all hate me—

no matter how many punches she threw, Ari was blocking and dodging skillfully. and upon realizing her hits were being instantly healed by the Healing Grace aura, Ari changed the strategy, opting to trip and sweep Sidra down over and over

Sidra: how is this possible?

Ari: you’re not bad, but there’s no one invincible, there will always be a way

Nagye: (Sidra is down and Ari is distracted, now’s my chance!)

one of the birds went to attack Ari, who had to jump out of the way to dodge, the other bird flew towards Sidra, grabbing her by the clothes. The threads linking Nagye to that bird became visibly thicker, allowing Sidra to be lifted up and carried towards Nagye

Nagye: Now we must r-run!

Ari: never show your back to your opponent, I got you!

Ari threw her long mace towards the fleeing girls, but it was blocked by the shield of a familiar figure

Shield guy: it's not fair for the instructors to go after those little ladies

Spear guy: we’ll protect them!, finally, a chance to show why we’re professionals

Short guy: let’s get this done quickly and celebrate with some booze

The girls were not the only ones with reinforcements, the shield instructor found his way back, the spear instructor, though tired, was still fit for action, and 2 other instructors joined in. now 2 parties stood face to face, Ari and the 4 instructors, versus the trio of undisciplined adventurers

bald instructor: huh? Where's the battle?

long beard instructor: we’re late it seems, but looks like we got work to do nonetheless

Short guy: well done coming all the way here gentlemen, but you made a crucial mistake

Shield guy: by standing there, distracted by our masterplan, the VIP is already far away, heck, she might be even out of the country by now hiohiohio

Spear guy: you might think you outnumber us, but we’re not professionals for nothing, behold, our trump card!, run away!!

the trio ran away and the instructors had no other option to give them chase

Ari: come back here! weren’t you gonna do a 3 vs 1 on me?!

Spear guy: why would we fight to lose? hehehehehe

Shield guy: now we just have to divide their forces and pick them off one by one!

Short guy: shut up man! don’t reveal our plan!!

meanwhile, both girls were far away from the ambush site, still running, feeling closer to the goal

Sidra: why… why did you help me? why did you save a monster like me?

Nagye: huh? a m-monster? w-what do you mean?

Sidra: I have the strength of a monster, I can throw people around, and ruin them with my punches, this is me, without the mask, I… i was a terrible person, just like Kacho

Nagye realized the discussion about Kacho the Monster wasn’t about Kacho

Nagye: y-you did it to protect us both, not for evil reasons, I-I think you are neither the monster nor the mask. you, umm, y-you are a very kind and cool priestess, w-with a dark past, like the kind of hero stories I li-like reading about.

Sidra stopped running to properly process those words

Sidra: did I really make it? did I manage to prevent myself from becoming a monster?

Nagye: I-I think so. I don’t know all the things did before, but if you can protect someone like me, I th-think you are long far away from being a monster

Sidra stared at Nagye with a mix of disbelief and relief. She remembered why she wanted to fight in the first place, to prevent Nagye from being hurt again, not because of the petty reasons of the past.

She felt like a huge weight was being lifted little by little. She closed her eyes and put her hands together to make a prayer, then she sighed in relief, and stared at Nagye with a smile

Sidra: what do you mean by “someone like me”?, don't you remember to not speak ill of yourself?, just look back at all you’ve been doing today. you a not the failure you think you are,

Nagye reflected on all the cool things she did; evading ambushes and firing rocks at them, fighting instructors and giving them a hard time without even having to touch them, honoring her ideal of being a leader, saving Sidra, developing a technique she had never seen in books. She was overwhelmed by all the things she never thought she’d be capable of, and tears started flowing, Sidra also started tearing up

Sidra: As you said before, “the venai that crosses the river is not the same that comes out the other side”, the same goes for you. believe this “cool priestess with a dark past” you just picked up from the floor

Nagye: I-I really did it, I really did it!

Sidra: me too, we both did it, blessed be the sight

they hugged each other, letting their tears of relief slide down