Naima's Spell

The weight of the rubble felt crushing. After a brief moment of suffocation, I pushed a large plank away and tumbled out of the debris, like a zombie crawling out of a grave. That attack would have killed a normal person. Once again, thank you, body, for having high durability!

I searched for the Tri-Carver nearby. “Crap! Where’s that stupid sword? There’s too much rubble!” I dug my hand deep inside the wreckage. Luckily, I found it near my feet and dug it out.

Yuro observed me from afar, hovering in the air with a face that lit up with excitement. Once I emerged from the building, the demon dashed towards me. “I knew that wouldn’t kill you. Let’s see you keep this up!”

My eyes locked onto the incoming threat. I firmly tightened my grip on the Tri-Carver as I charged at the demon. I charged up another swing. We met each other halfway, causing our strikes to clash. Powerful wind speeds formed from the aftershock.

…

In the near distance, away from the fight…

Amada and the others battled against the gusts of wind, struggling to keep their balance. Each step drained their energy, as if walking through the eye of a hurricane. Despite this, they continued and hurried to my aid.

They looked on as Yuro and I traded blows with one another. It turned into a real brawl! The team was several houses away from the battle.

“Ha, looks like that fraud of a hero needs my assistance once again!” Anojin chuckled with a cocky demeanor. “Maybe we should just leave him be. If he loses, he should consider leaving our team.

A twisted thought clouded the crusader’s mind. “And if he does that, then it will only be me and the lovely Miss Amada and Miss Hinabe! Oh, that would be perfect!”

Amada quickly reminded the crusader, “Hey, Anojin. Now’s not the time to make jokes. Since Hinabe already healed you earlier, you need to help Takumi out. We can’t afford to lose him.”

“Sorry, Miss Amada. Your wish is my command!” said Anojin, slipping into his lover-boy persona. He subtly muttered to himself when he thought of me. “Tsk. Be glad I’m helping you out, fraud. If Amada wasn’t the one telling me to help you, I would have left your ass alone.”

Amada acknowledged Anojin’s poor excuse of hiding his true, arrogant self. She assumed he was probably speaking badly about me, which was right! All she could do was release a sigh. She turned to Hinabe to change topics.

“By the way, Hinabe, that was so good healing back ther-”

Before Amada could finish her statement, she lost sight of Hinabe. The small elf ran alongside them, so how did Hinabe disappear without alerting anyone?

“Where did Hinabe go?” Amada asked.

“Oh, Hinabe fell asleep a while ago behind us,” Naima replied casually, pointing behind her. “…Didn’t expect her to stay awake for that long.”

What an older sister! Leaving behind their younger sibling… alone… and drooling on the dirty soil. I was not gifted with siblings, but I knew that was just sad.

The buildings surrounding them collapsed one after another as I was thrown into them by Yuro. I felt like I was playing fetch, and I was the stick!

Yuro would slam me to the hard ground, then yank me from a building to the next, giving me no time to breathe.

My slashes still weren’t forming properly. I slowly began to feel the effects of crashing into the floor and buildings wearing down on my body. With each building, it took longer to emerge from the rubble.

Regardless, I forced my body to numb the pain and sprint back to the battle.

Amada snapped at Naima. “What do you mean?! We should have gone back for her! If someone is badly injured, who’s going to heal them?!”

“Don’t worry.” The elf assured her. “If worst comes to worst, I can heal.”

“Did you also learn that with Hinabe?”

“I mean mine is not as perfect as Hinabe’s, but my spell will be enough. Even though she knows about the different spells in the world, she wanted to prioritize her spells for healing. That’s why she’s an adventurer and the genius of the house.”

Naima continued rambling. “I, on the other hand, wanted to learn other types of spells. Being an adventurer wasn’t for me, but I still wanted to learn the spells.”

“What spell did you want to learn?”

“I’ll just show you…”

…

Naima extended her hands out towards Anojin. She channeled her mana into her hands and chanted her spell, “Tank boost!”

For a brief second, Anojin’s entire body glowed a warm yellow, like he was coated with a protective layer.

Anojin curiously inspected his body while he ran. “Why do I suddenly feel different?”

“I boosted your defense for a limited time.”

“Oh, wow. Thank you, Miss Naima. You’re beautiful, and you have such useful spells. What can’t you do?!”

Suddenly, a large chunk of a damaged building, the size of a car, headed straight for the crusader.

The crusader was distracted from observing his buff. Amada noticed the danger and called out to him. “Anojin, Look out!”

Being the idiot blinded by love, Anojin turned his back to the chunk of the building and glanced at Amada with his pupils turning into hearts. “Yes, Miss Amada?”

“That idiot.” Amada shook her head in disappointment as the piece of the building clashed with the crusader.

Anojin and the girls stopped in their tracks. At a time like this, Anojin would have used his block spell. Tanking that head-on was suicide. We assumed it was over for him.

However, the debris dissipated into pieces after hitting him. His protective layer also disappeared after the attack. Surprisingly, the crusader remained there, completely unharmed.

“What the-? What was that?” he wondered. “Something tickled my back.”

Naima began explaining her spell. “That spell only works off the user’s abilities. Because you’re a crusader, it increases your defense. If you were a fighter, then it would boost your attack. Also, it has a one-time use.”

The spell sounded useful. I wondered why she didn’t become an adventurer like her little sister?

…

Back at the fight…

Things didn’t look good for me. The battle felt one-sided. My control over my mana was scattered. I was constantly thrown around like a dog chew toy. The longer the battle continued, the greater my disadvantage became.

Where’s my help? They should have arrived here already. What was the holdup?

I glanced over at my team’s direction. They were idling, talking to themselves. Great, while I struggled not to die, my team decided to take a break! I didn’t see Hinabe nearby, so I assumed she was already taking her “break”.

I shouted from the top of my lungs as I held back Yuro. “Can I get some help anytime soon?!”

Yuro pressed his weight against my sword, leaning closer. “Hey, don’t ask for help. It’s supposed to be just the two of us… are you not having fun?”

“Oh, shut it!”

My cry snapped the team back to reality. They ended their “break” and continued running. While they sprinted, Amada thought deeply about her abilities and Naima’s spell.

She rarely had any involvement in any of our battles. The only exception was against Astra, which shouldn’t count since the element of surprise was a factor in that match.

She wanted to show her worth to the team… and this was the perfect chance.

“Hey, Naima. Would you mind using that spell on me?”

“Of course, but I will say that using that spell drains my mana fast. If I cast them out like candy, I wouldn’t be able to heal the injured.”

Amada took a split second to think things through. Having a healer would be beneficial to the team. This wasn’t just for the team. She wanted to prove her worth to herself.

Once they arrived at the scene, she made up her mind… a decision that would change the fate of the battle.

…