Chương 67: Learn the lunar shield

Max and Krystal soon approached the group.

"Let's get going," Max said.

"We need to inform Master Thomas and Benkay about what happened." Amelia nodded, though her legs still felt unsteady beneath her.

"Alright. Let's go, then." Before they could leave, she glanced toward Ace, who was still sitting where he'd fallen, staring at nothing in particular.

"Ace, do you need any help?" Ace shook his head without looking up.

"No thanks. I'm good." Amelia gave a small, tired smile.

"Well.. Its was worth a shot..." Ace slowly pushed himself to his feet, wincing as he dusted the dirt from his clothes. He looked down at his hand and clenched it into a fist, watching his own knuckles whiten.

"Even after getting Meep," he muttered,"I was outclassed just as easily just like with Hogsthawts." His expression darkened.

"Why does it always end up like this?" Meep floated beside him, its small flame flickering weakly, dimmer than usual.

"Meep..." The sound came out unusually quiet, almost mournful. Amelia's eyes softened as she watched it.

"Aww. Even Meep looks upset." Tony rubbed his chin, considering.

"Now that I think about it, Meep's mood always seems to match whatever Ace is feeling." Amelia's eyes lit up.

"So that means Ace is upset right now!" Before Ace could get a word out, Amelia crossed over and gently patted him on the back.

"It's okay, Ace. We'll get stronger together. You don't have to carry all of this by yourself." Ace's face turned bright red in an instant.

"Enough! Get off me!" Amelia pulled her hand back quickly, startled.

"I was only trying to help."

"I am not upset!" He took a long breath, forcing himself to settle. Meep continued hovering beside him, flame still flickering low. Ace looked away, jaw tight.

"Let's just get moving already. I've had enough of tonight." Max let out a short laugh under his breath.

"Sure. Whatever you say." Krystal stepped forward, offering Amelia a small, reassuring smile.

"Come on. We've got a lot to explain when we get back." The group made their way out of the ruined city together, slower than usual, every one of them carrying the weight of what they'd just been through. Ace walked ahead with his hands shoved in his pockets, Meep drifting quietly beside his head. Amelia followed a few steps behind him, glancing over every so often with a small, worried smile she didn't bother hiding.

Tony trudged alongside King, his tail dragging slightly, while Max and Krystal brought up the rear, neither of them saying much. Nobody spoke for a long while. The destruction stretching out around them was a constant, silent reminder of exactly what they had walked away from. RoboGeneX had given them one week. One week to become strong enough to face something none of them had come anywhere close to hurting. And now they had to walk back into the guild and explain all of it to Master Thomas and Benkay.

Their fight was over for now. The real one hadn't even started yet. Back at the Fairy Guard guild, the atmosphere was, for once, completely at odds with what the group had just lived through. Mochi had one arm wrapped around Faesha, spinning her slowly through the air while she squealed with delight, her feet barely brushing the floor.

"Round and round!" Faesha laughed so hard she could barely get the words out.

"Faster! Faster!"

"You got it!" Mochi spun faster, sending her hair and the hem of her clothes fluttering wildly around her. Benkay sat nearby with a cup of apple juice in hand, watching the two of them with a warm, amused smile.

"So I take it you two have become good friends?" Faesha nodded so hard her whole body bounced with it.

"Mochi's very fun and amazing! Faesha likes him a lot!" She paused, considering.

"He's way more fun than you, Uncle Benkay." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Benkay raised his cup slowly to his lips and took a long, deliberate sip.

"Wow," he said.

"Thanks, kid. Really feeling the love tonight." Mochi came to a stop, grinning from ear to ear.

"Don't worry, Benkay! Faesha's in good hands!"

"Somehow that makes me even more nervous." A few feet away, Thomas remained completely unaware of any of it, slumped comfortably in his chair, fast asleep, a small bubble of breath rising and falling gently from his nose with every snore. Then the guild doors were thrown open. Every head in the room turned toward the entrance at once. Thomas's sleep bubble popped. His eyes stayed shut.

"Hm?" Mochi's face brightened immediately.

"You're back!" Amelia stepped through the doorway first, moving like every part of her body was protesting the effort.

"Yep. We're back." She looked completely drained. Ace followed just behind her, his clothes covered in dust and streaked with dried blood along one sleeve. Max limped in after him, one arm held stiffly against his side. Krystal's hair had come loose from its usual style, and her clothes were torn in more places than she probably realized. King could barely keep his eyes open, and Tony looked like he'd personally survived a small war. Benkay's smile faded the instant he saw them. He set his cup down slowly.

"You all look wrecked." He stood.

"What happened out there?" The room went quiet, waiting. Krystal took a slow breath before answering.

"RoboGeneX..." The name landed heavily across the room.

"He completed the fusion. He's whole now." Benkay's eyes widened.

"Whole." His expression sharpened into something far more serious than the man who'd been sipping juice a moment earlier.

"That is not what I was hoping to hear tonight." Thomas finally stirred, blinking his eyes open. He took his time looking over each of them in turn, his usual sleepy demeanor slipping away as he studied the state they were in.

"Then I take it," he said, "the situation is worse than we expected." Ace's jaw tightened.

"Worse doesn't even begin to cover it." Amelia nodded, arms wrapped around herself.

"None of us could touch him. Not really." Mochi's grin finally disappeared.

"None of you?" Max shook his head.

"He didn't just beat us. He overwhelmed us. It wasn't even close." King spoke quietly, staring at the floor.

"We couldn't even get him to take us seriously." Benkay folded his arms, studying them.

"And yet you're all still standing here." Krystal's fists clenched at her sides.

"He could have finished us. Easily."

"But he didn't," Amelia said. Every eye in the room turned toward her. She hesitated before continuing.

"He gave us seven days." Benkay's eyebrow lifted.

"Seven days for what, exactly?"

"To train," Amelia said.

"He wants to see if we can actually match him..." Thomas leaned back into his chair, fingers steepled beneath his chin.

"Interesting..." Amelia looked down at her own hands.

"I think there might be another reason he let us live, too."

"RoboZ," Krystal said quietly. Amelia nodded.

"He never wanted to hurt anyone. He only fought because he was forced into it. I think some part of him is still in there, somewhere inside RoboGeneX." Thomas went quiet for a long moment, considering it carefully.

"Really?"

"If that's true," he finally said, "then this RoboZ you speak of may be the entire reason we've been given this chance at all." Benkay nodded slowly.

"Which means seven days might be the only opportunity we'll ever get. He pushed himself to his feet.

"Then we need somewhere to actually train. Somewhere that can handle whatever we throw at it." Mochi's hand shot up immediately.

"Ooh! What about here in the arena grounds?"

"No, that won't work..."

"Why not?"

"Because you'd level my guild in about ten minutes if you went all out.."

"Im lucky you all have good magic controll.."

"Being able to restrain your magic to protect the environment has to be a blessing." Mochi lowered his hand, unbothered.

"Fair point then..." Benkay walked toward the tall windows overlooking the Fairy Quadrant, hands folded behind his back.

"At the coast, right at three in the morning, something unusual happens." Everyone's attention settled on him.

"The moon turns somewhat aggressive." Mochi blinked.

"The moon does what now?"

"Its energy intensifies," Benkay explained.

"The rays coming off it become strong enough to form what looks almost like a second world stretched across the coastline." Amelia leaned in, intrigued despite herself.

"A second world?" Benkay nodded.

"There's one issue, though." His tone shifted, more serious now.

"Walk straight into those lunar waves unprepared, and they'll fry you where you stand." Tony's ears shot straight up.

"Fry us alive?!"

"That's the general idea, yes." Tony immediately backed several steps away from the window, as though the moon might reach through it.

"Nope. Officially crossing this location off my list." Benkay continued anyway.

"Which means someone needs to master a defensive technique before any of us can set foot out there." He raised one finger, and a faint silver glow curled around his hand.

"Magic Skill: Lunar Shield. It forms a barrier strong enough to deflect other Magic Skills, while also protecting the user from the moon's rays." Everyone stared at the glow for a moment. Mochi tilted his head.

"So basically, it's a really fancy umbrella for the moon." Benkay considered that.

"In the simplest terms possible, yes." He looked out over the group.

"There's one person here who should be able to pick it up faster than the rest of us combined."

"Hmmmmm" He scanned the room.. He pointed.

"You."

"Amelia." Amelia's eyes went wide.

"Wait, me?"

"Your magic carries a lunar quality to it," Benkay said.

"It's subtle, but it's there. I've felt it before..." Amelia looked down at her own hands as though seeing them for the first time.

"My magic has a lunar nature to it?"

"It does. You're the obvious candidate." Mochi pumped his fist in the air.

"You've got this, Amelia!"

"Yeah!" Faesha cheered, bouncing on her toes.

"Faesha believes in you!" King offered a small, steady smile.

"I think you can learn it too, just give it a shot." Krystal nodded beside him.

"Your magic's always stood out from the rest of ours. This might be exactly what it was made for." Even Ace, arms crossed and clearly exhausted, glanced her way.

"You should give it a shot." Amelia looked around at each of them in turn, something warm easing the tension from her shoulders. She took a slow breath. Then smiled.

"All right."

"If it means that much, I'll learn it." Benkay beamed.

"Wonderful." Amelia looked at him expectantly.

"So," she said, "how exactly do I learn it?" Benkay shrugged.

"I have no idea..." Silence. Amelia blinked at him.

"... Say what now?"

"I said I have no idea." Benkay scratched the back of his head, entirely unbothered.

"I know what the technique does. I never claimed to know how to actually teach it." Amelia looked like she might collapse on the spot.

"Then why did you pick me?!" Mochi stepped forward, grinning.

"If that's the only problem," he said,"We'll all help you figure it out." Amelia froze. Her eyes started to water.

"Really?"

"You.. really mean it?"

"Of course," Mochi said. The others nodded along without hesitation. Amelia wiped quickly at her eyes and smiled through them.

"Thank you. All of you." Thomas rose from his chair, finally looking fully alert for the first time all night.

"Seven days," he said, his voice carrying a weight that settled over the whole room. Benkay raised a finger"We'll give you two days, which will give us 5 days to actually train!" Amelia looked down at her palm, where a faint silver glow had already started to flicker between her fingers, unbidden. She smiled, quiet and determined.

"Then I'll make every second of it count."

"I promise.." Benkay clapped his hands together.

"Good. Let's make it easier on ourselves. We'll head to the coast tomorrow and get everything set up before we actually start." Mochi raised a fist.

"Training at the coast. Now that sounds like fun." Faesha jumped in place.

"Can Faesha come too?" Benkay glanced over at her, smiling.

"Of course you can."

"Because, I can't leave you here.."

"Yay!" Amelia nodded.

"That'll probably help. It'll be easier to focus if everything's already prepared before we get there." King agreed.

"If we're serious about mastering this, preparation matters just as much as the training itself." Krystal offered a soft smile.

"Tomorrow, then." Ace gave a short nod.

"Fine by me." Tony stretched his arms out with an exaggerated groan.

"As long as nobody's expecting me to personally walk into radioactive moonlight, I'm satisfied." Max smirked.

"You're coming whether you like it or not." Tony's ears drooped instantly.

"I suddenly hate this plan." Benkay looked around at the group, apparently satisfied with how the night had settled.

"Excellent." He yawned, long and unhurried, and turned toward the hallway.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some beauty sleep." Benkay waved a hand without looking back.

"I've had more than enough excitement for one night." He disappeared down the hallway, and everyone watched him go. Tony sighed.

"Must be nice to be so at ease..." The guild slowly quieted around them, the noise of the evening fading into something calmer, but different than before. There was a weight in the room now that hadn't been there an hour ago. Tomorrow, Amelia's training for the lunar shield would begin.