This Guy Is Crazy!

The trip to the mission site, where the group could find the Natural Disaster Sorcerer, was short. 

Upon arriving at the village by carriage, Kaito’s party witnessed its vast open fields, accompanied by random fissures and craters. Getting out of the carriage, they were greeted by an old, slouched-over man with a straw hat on.

“Hello to you all, what brings you here to our village?” the old man asked.

“We’re here to help with herding some Ūs,” Khrom answered.

“Ah, yes. That other young fella was a little too reckless for my liking, so your help is much appreciated,” the old man explained.

“So what do these birds even look like?” Kaito asked as he stretched in preparation for work.

The old man pointed to an ostrich-like bird standing in the vast fields. It was primarily white-feathered with blue tints. The group looked at it in acknowledgment.

“METEOR STRIKE!!!”

The group blinked as they had just witnessed a meteor crash onto the Ū, but luckily, the Ū dodged the strike with its speed. Nearby the meteor, a boy dropped down from the sky onto a tree and laughed haughtily.

“Oh dear…” the old man said.

Kaito started a sentence, but couldn’t finish from being awestruck, “That’s…”

“The Natural Disaster Sorcerer,” Khrom finished Kaito’s sentence.

Snapping out of their shock, Kaito’s party rushed over to the Natural Disaster Sorcerer’s direction before he wrecked more havoc.

“Hey, you over there!” Kaito called out to the sorcerer.

The sorcerer noticed Kaito and stopped his proud laughs. With his arms crossed, he looked at Kaito’s party from the top of the tree before he jumped down to them.

“How can this sorcerer help you guys?” the sorcerer said with an air of confidence.

Now that the sorcerer was up close, the group noticed how decked out he was… in a weird way.

He was barely taller than Kaito and had bushy orange hair spiked upwards. He wore too many accessories: blacksmith goggles, a scarf, necklace, bracelet, rings, gloves, knee pads, leg warmers, a tactical vest; it was too much.

“We’re here to help—”

“I’m Iori! And can you tutor me in combination spells!?” Iori interrupted Khrom excitedly as she was impressed by his meteor spell.

Iori’s aggressiveness boosted the sorcerer’s ego. He turned around and gave his answer, boastfully rubbing the underside of his nose.

“No can do, Miss Iori,” he declined. “Xavian, the Natural Disaster Sorcerer, does not tell his secrets to just anybody! Plus, combination spells are not as easy as you think.”

Khrom tried to reiterate the other reason they were here. “Actually, we’re also here to—”

“There goes another one!” the sorcerer, Xavian, shouted, interrupting Khrom again. “EARTHQUAKE!!!”

Xavian stomped the ground and shook the surrounding area. A large fissure headed towards the Ū he had noticed, but the bird again dodged it.

“Dang it,” Xavian vented.

Xavian turned around to the group and was greeted by Iori’s dazzled expression, catching him off guard. She was clearly impressed by his spell.

“That was amazing!” Iori complimented.

“Oh, it was nothing.” Xavian’s ego grew some more.

Kaito and Evona looked at each other, unimpressed by how crazy and conceited Xavian was. They then smiled, as they were thinking the same thing.

Evona walked up behind Xavian and massaged his shoulders. Xavian was confused but immediately accepted it after Evona’s comment.

“Impressive build!” Evona complimented Xavian.

Xavian soaked up the compliment. “But of course, I train every day!”

It was Kaito’s turn. He walked up to Xavian and held up his non-existent microphone to ask him a question.

“Mr. Xavian, THE Natural Disaster Sorcerer. That Earthquake spell was amazing! Would you please inform us on how you came up with it?” Kaito egged on Xavian to unintentionally tutor Iori.

“HAHAHA, I guess I have no choice!” Xavian responded. He took the bait.

Xavian explained how he came up with Earthquake. It was a triple combination spell utilizing Tremor, Earth Spike, and Pitfall. He also mentioned how he didn’t need to call out the spell’s name and did it for flair.

Iori soaked up all the information, noting how certain spells interact with each other.

“And what about the Meteor Stomp? Slash?” Kaito led on Xavian.

“Strike! METEOR STRIKE, HAHAHA!” Xavian gladly corrected Kaito.

Xavian continued to explain how Meteor Strike worked, not realizing that he was tutoring for free.

As Kaito and Evona showered Xavian with compliments, he continued to inform the group of his combination spells: Flash Flood, Swirling Tornado, Great Typhoon, Wildfire. It was well apparent how he got the title of Natural Disaster Sorcerer.

Xavian kept boasting about his spells until Iori got what she needed to understand the basics of combination spells.

“Thank you so much, Xavian!” Iori bowed after she got her fill of information.

“Thank you?” Xavian responded as he began to realize. “Wait, you guys tricked me!”

Kaito and Evona backed off from Xavian and were about to start laughing until Khrom stepped in for them.

“Tricked you? We’re just here to help with herding the Ūs, so knowing how your spells work will help us work together better!” Khrom tried to convince Xavian.

Xavian looked at the group skeptically before saying his thoughts.

“That makes sense!” Xavian responded. “My spells are way too grand for herding.”

Khrom stretched his arm, back fist bumped Kaito and Evona, where Xavian couldn’t see.

“I’m Khrom, that’s Kaito and Evona, and you already know Iori.” Khrom introduced everybody.

“Heh, nice to meet you all,” Xavian responded. “Now let’s fry these birds!”

The group then worked together to herd the Ūs, but it was more of just Kaito’s party. Just as Xavian said, his spells were too grandiose for this mission. Every time he used one, the Ūs would scatter, making them have to restart. Instead, Xavian just took the time to relax in a tree as Kaito’s party went to work.

Kaito and Evona utilized their speed to herd the birds, while Khrom and Iori used skills to create walls to stop them from scattering. With their combined efforts, they completed the mission by sunset.

“Ah, thank you all for your hard work,” the old man in the straw hat appeared to congratulate them. “There’s just one more issue now.”

“What’s wrong?” Kaito asked. “We got them all herded and enclosed in these walls Iori made.”

“These walls are too short,” the old man explained. “The Ūs can use their magic to escape. Is it possible to make a pit for them to wander in?”

The group looked at Iori to see if she had that capability.

“I-I’m sorry, but I don’t have a spell on that large a scale yet,” Iori answered. “I’m also kind of low on energy right now…”

As the group brainstormed a solution, their answer came to them.

“PITFALL!!!”

Xavian jumped down from the tree and used the Pitfall spell to create a large ditch for the Ūs. It caught everyone by surprise.

“I thought you said you couldn’t use weaker spells?” Katio said, semi-annoyed at Xavian.

“Did I? HAHAHA,” Xavian laughed it off.

The mission was complete, even if Kaito’s party did most of the work.