Natural Disaster Sorcerer

The one-week course at the Giora Adventurer School was over. Everyone had graduated, having grown much stronger than at the start of the course. Kaito, Evona, and Iori were saying their goodbyes to Clenn and Kana, who were departing to journey together.

“Bye, Kana,” said Iori, hugging Kana. “I’ll know you’ll get into the Flaming Tiger!”

“For sure! Clenn and I will be working hard on that goal!” Kana responded.

With their goodbyes said, Clenn and Kana left for their adventure. Kaito’s group waved to them as they left through the school’s gates.

“Evona wishes you guys luck!” Evona shouted.

Just as the two disappeared from one side of the gate, Khrom entered from the other side. It was time for the ‘father’ to pick up his children.

“Khrom!” Evona shouted excitedly.

“Long time no see—”

Evona ran to Khrom and jumped on his face, interrupting his sentence. She quickly crawled over him to get comfortable in her regular bed shield spot.

“I’m beginning to think you missed my shield more than me, Evona,” Khrom joked, “and look at you two, looking stronger already.”

Khrom clearly referred to Iori, who was floating by herself and no longer being carried by Kaito. Iori smiled, knowing how much she’d grown, while Kaito walked up nonchalantly.

“Is Rina not with you?” Kaito asked.

“Actually, she told me she’d be away from town for a few days yesterday,” Khrom informed the group.

Kaito looked slightly frustrated. His apology would have to wait.

“So what’d you all learn?” Khrom continued the conversation.

“I learned so many skills and spells!” Iori excitedly answered. “And get this, Khrom! I learned how to combine spells!”

Khrom, impressed, looked towards Kaito to get a confirmation on Iori’s statement. Kaito nodded and shrugged his shoulders to signal that Iori did what she said.

“I want to try more of those combination spells, but I don’t have a good idea of what works together,” Iori said disappointingly. “Plus, I was told not to experiment blindly anymore because it’s dangerous.”

Nisteen, the mage from the Flaming Tiger Guild, gave her this warning. She also told her to find a different tutor to help her on this front, as she was inexperienced in combination spells.

“In that case, we should find the Natural Disaster Sorcerer,” Khrom suggested.

Kaito and Iori looked at each other and blinked.

“Who?” They said in unison.

Khrom began explaining. The Natural Disaster Sorcerer was a well-known adventurer for his original combination spells. He and Evona briefly met him on their adventures, and he was… unique…

“He tends to wander just up north near the border to the Demon Realm,” Khrom concluded. “Something about being on the front line if the Demon Realm invades again…”

“You think we can meet him?” Iori questioned.

“It shouldn’t be too hard,” Khrom responded. “The guild might even know where he is, depending on whether he’s on a mission up north. Let’s go!”

Arriving at the guild, the group walked up to Elise, who was adjusting the mission board.

“Hey, Elise!” Kaito greeted.

“Oh, hello, everyone. Can I help you with something?” Elise responded.

“We’re looking for the Natural Disaster Wizard,” Khrom explained. “Has he accepted a mission lately?”

Elise slightly flinched as she stood there with a worried expression. Something was up.

Elise sighed, “Normally, we don’t give out information like this, but I suppose this is an exception…”

The group followed Elise to the front counter, where she explained the situation.

The information Elise was not supposed to give was about which adventurers took what mission. In this case, it was the information that the Natural Disaster Wizard had recently taken up a mission from the guild.

The problem was that the Natural Disaster Wizard was struggling on his mission... weirdly...

The mission he accepted was to herd wild animals called Ūs (Ooos) for a farmer. Ostrich-like animals with wind magic, making them very fast. The Natural Disaster Wizard struggled with the quest because he was too strong. He doesn’t know how to hold back his spells, so he tries to herd the birds with things like meteors.

The employer sent the guild a notice as he was worried about the Ūs dying more than them being herded.

“It would be nice if you all went out to assist him, but that would make this a joint mission,” Elise concluded as she sighed.

Joint missions aren’t bad; they just often come with conflict. Two different parties accept the same mission and complete it together. The problem arises when distributing the reward, as both parties argue about how to split it.

“Don’t worry, we’re not that immature,” Kaito reassured.

“That’s what they all say…” Sid clapped back as he walked by, carrying a pile of papers.

“We’re mainly going to meet him; there shouldn’t be any conflict,” Khrom finalized the group’s decision.

“If you say so,” Elise replied, confirming that Kaito’s party would accept the joint mission.

____________________________________________________________________________

As the mission site was nearby, the group decided to head out almost immediately, but first, they would buy Iori proper armor for the trip.

“We’re back, Edwin!” Kaito announced as he swung the door to Edwin’s shop.

“Oh, hey there, son,” said Edwin, shocked at Kaito’s sudden entrance. “Is the little lady not with you?”

“Not today. We’re here to get Iori some armor,” Kaito replied.

“H-he’s massive,” Iori blurted out, terrified by Edwin’s size.

“I said the same thing,” Kaito laughed at Iori’s reaction.

Edwin picked out some armor for Iori that he recommended. It was light armor similar to Kaito’s, so she wouldn’t be too weighed down in combat.

While Iori went to try on the armor in the back room, Khrom and Evona looked around at some other gear Edwin had in his shop. Kaito stood leaning on Edwin's front counter as Edwin started small talk.

“Y’know, ever since you’ve started adventuring with the little lady, she has seemed happier,” Edwin mentioned.

“Really? For the most part, I feel like I’ve just been annoying her,” Kaito responded.

“That’s just a front,” Edwin declared. “I can tell she enjoys being your partner. Make sure you treat her well.”

Kaito stood there in thought. He started to feel more guilty about not making up with Rina before she left.

Iori broke Kaito out of his thoughts as she was finished changing.

“I like how this armor feels! I’ll take it!” Iori announced.

“Great!” Edwin responded.

With Iori picking out her armor, the group was fully prepared to head out and meet the Natural Disaster Sorcerer.