--------///----Eclina POV----\--------

While we were running papa told us atleast three hours passed and we should be halfway there. Papa also told us we should be reaching the first town he passed when he was going full speed and we should be careful since they might not like him. During the run we saw something gold from our right fly past and head in the direction we were going papa wasn't sure what it was and my brother had a smile on his face probably thinking about fighting whatever it was.

(Martiq) " Alright little ones we're close to the town thingy i passed so before we get in we'll stop at the front and i'll try to talk them into letting us pass without ruining more stuff but if that doesn't work then get ready to run and i'll just let Phoenix or Elaine deal with them. "

(Eclina & L.B) " Ok papa. "

After a minute or two we got close to the entrance of this new town which unlike Finna doesn't have a wall but a stone bridge since it's somewhat surrounded by water and the area that we came out of is a grassy flat land that splits into a lake. It looks like they built this place in the middle of a really large lake connected to the ocean, with greenery everywhere on the outer edges and there is plenty of underwater plantlife while the clear water lets me see a bunch of fish living in it and some smaller wooden bridges that don't lead anywhere and stop over the water.

There aren't any walls either but the bridge just leads into the town which from the outside looks similar to Finna with some stone and wooden buildings but the smell of something delicious makes my mouth water but i reign it in and ask papa about the Bridges?

(Eclina) " Papa what are those mini bridges? "

Looking to where i was looking papa said.

(Martiq) " Those are for fishing not bridges Eclina. "

(Eclina) " Ok... But what are they called? "

Papa starts making a wry smile before turning away and saying.

(Martiq) " Umm ask your mother. "

And then he started walking on the bridge to the new town. As papa stepped onto the bridge the guards who were watching us started to tense up like the ones from Finna and as we got closer they started looking anxious but without Virgil or Phoenix around we had to get closer to start talking to them.

(???) " St-tay b-b-back i-i-i know how to u-u-se this! "

One of the guards raised his sword which was another thing different from Finna as these guards had swords that were sort of like Elaine's but a bit thinner. At the guards "Threat" papa laughed which spooked the guards as they noticably jumped back and stared at papa before he said.

(Martiq) " Even if you did you wouldn't be able to hurt me and if i felt like it you wouldn't have seen me just like earlier. "

Hearing papa's words they started getting even more nervous. Before i didn't understand why but now that we talked to Phoenix and everyone else i get that they realize papa's strong and old. Seeing a commotion start someone from a building nearby the bridge who was in light armor and had a really thin sword that sort of looked like a spear but more pointy i'm not sure what else i could compare it to.

The person was a lady that looked as young as Reina and standing at over a meter and a half, she has clear skin, light blue hair and eyes, her armor had a light blue tinge and she seems to have something strapped to her back but i can't see what it is.

(???) " What's going on he... "

Looking to the bridge where she saw papa and us the lady grabs her sword thingy with her left hand and reaches for the thing on her back. It looks like a wooden metal thing with an arrow? in it and she puts her finger under where the arrow is and points it at my brother and says.

(???) " Leave or i shoot. "

Papa dropped his smile and stared at her with a blank look in his eyes and says.

(Martiq) " Try it and i blow this town off the face of Astrium. "

Flinching at papa's voice she widens her eyes before she says.

(???) " Why are you here? "

(Martiq) " We're heading to the kingdom to check on Phoenix. Now put down the crossbow or point it away from my son before you lose the arm. "

She stopped moving while papa was talking and the other guards were wide eyed and looked scared. Eventually the lady dropped her crossbow and put her pointy sword away too.

(???) " I'm sorry we're just paranoid because of something that happened earlier. "

(Martiq) " I know. I was going to say sorry about doing that but now i won't now that you essentially threatened to hurt my son infront of me. "

Looking more shocked then she just was the lady infront of us asked.

(???) " What do you mean you were going to apologize? "

(Martiq) " That was me dropping off Phoenix whose a friend of mine, Elaine who likes to play with my daughter and Raijin who has a bit of a competitive attitude with my wife, at the kingdom which was going through something very VERY important that needs THREE S ranks and involves the PRINCESS. And it'd be a shame if i told them what you just did or tried to do. "

At this point they were all shaking at what papa was saying and they look like they all got noticably paler.

(???) " I-im s-sorry please don't. "

While this was going on me and my brother were just looking on not understanding at what papa was saying but we knew we shouldn't say anything until he said it was ok.

(Martiq) " I won't i'm making sure you understand that even if you did try anything it would be pointless and you'd lose everything. Now me and my kids will be going through and continue heading to the kingddom your going to guide us through the town and if anything happens you're going to take responsibility. Am i clear? "

And with a shaky salute? She said.

(???) " Y-yes s-s-ir. "

(Martiq) " Good. And my names not Sir it's Martiq to my left is my son he hasn't manifested yet so he doesn't have his name and to my right is my daughter Eclina. You can start talking now little ones. "

Taking that as our que i introduce myself and my brother does the same.

(Eclina) " Hi what's the pointy sword thingy? and what's a crossbow? "

(L.B) " Are you strong? "

Hearing us talk they were startled and a little more nervous but the lady put a brave and calm face even though she was shaking a bit and said.

(???) " Hi my names Mina and i'm the head guard. The sword thingy is a rapier and a crossbow is a dwarf made weapon that helps for ranged attacks. "

(Eclina) " Hi Mina how old are you? Do you give good headpats? You remind me of Elaine do you know Elaine? "

Hearing me ask stuff papa smiles again and shakes his head. Mina on the other hand looks a bit nervous before papa says.

(Martiq) " As long as you don't try anything that might hurt them your free to talk and interact with them. "

Mina was still nervous but she kind of relaxed a bit and walked up to me with her hand out. When she got close to me i sniffed her hand a bit and she smelled like water and a small bit like air which made me stop considering...

~ i don't remember being able to tell elements by smell. ~

Seeing me stop she tensed up a bit but when i shook my head and licked her hand she relaxed and my brother came up to her and asked his question again.

(L.B) " Are you strong? "

Mina thought about his question and looked a little conflicted before saying.

(Mina) " Compared to the knights and other guards that live here i can say im strong, compared to dedicated mages i can say i'd win in a one versus one against many of them but there are a few that are definetly stronger then i am. And for your earlier questions Eclina im twenty, i don't know i haven't had any pets and haven't had the time to get any so i'm not sure about good headpats, and everyone knows The Lady Of The Blade i want to be like her so i'm trying my best to follow in her footsteps. "

My brother was interested in her talking about strong people to fight while i was more interested in the title that Elaine had. Before i asked papa knowing what i was going to ask said.

(Martiq) " You can ask her when you see her Eclina. We should start getting ready to run again soon so get some rest i'll go grab some fish for you two to eat then we'll start running again. "

(Eclina & L.B) " Ok papa. "

And with that papa leapt off the bridge but not before looking to Mina out of the corner of his eye which made her shiver a bit before she nodded her head.

After papa was gone she relaxed and looked to me and looking a bit hesitant before she put her hand on my head and started scratching behind my ear which felt really good. And seeing that she put a smile on her face and my brother who looked a little jealous came up to her and moved to her free hand and she started doing the same for him.

(Mina) " I could get used to this. "

It felt nice but a minute later she stopped and i had to open my eyes to see why. A big crowd of people had shown up at some point, alot of them looked scared, the kids looked like they wanted to pet me and my brother but there were some that had a look in their eyes that i couldn't recognize and someone that looked excited. Then a woman who was wearing fancy looking clothes that were all bright and with two people behind her in heavy armor came up to mina and said.

(???) " I heard there was a commotion here would you mind explaining what's going on here Ms.Frieda? "

Mina looked a little aprehensive and seemed to tense up a little bit. The woman seemed to be older then Phoenix but younger then Virgil and she had a strong smell that smelled bad. She had some greying hair that still showed some brown while her eyes looked blue, She was wearing a brown dress and shoes that made her look taller but she was still Mina's height.

(Mina) " U-uh well... "

Mina was trying to talk but i couldn't stand the smell coming from the new lady so i said.

(Eclina) " You stink go away. "

Everyone got quiet at that. The whispers and murmurs from the crowd, the worried hushes from the guards, and Mina trying to talk all stopped and they all looked at me. Until my brother said.

(L.B) " Maybe she can't help how she smells? You don't have to be mean to someone if they can't help it. "

Throughout the crowd the kids started snickering and some of the scared adults started to show small smiles. The few people that had the weird looks in their eyes seemed to look even fiercer but i still didn't understand it. The lady started to look mad and her face was going red while her eye started to twitch and said.

(???) " HOW DARE YOU! You mangey mutts i'll p... "

Mina suddenly went up to the lady and put her hand against her mouth and made her stop. The guards looked at each other unsure of whether they should help or not. The lady however was really mad as she lashed out and punched Mina in the stomach with a earth coated hand which made her clutch her stomach with her free hand but she didn't hold it for long as she grabbed the lady by the middle of her dress and threw her to the ground the lady hit the ground head first and was knocked out. Mina looked to the two gaurds that came with the lady and said.

(Mina) " Get her out of here and keep her from coming back before she gets us all killed. "

(Guard 2) " Little harsh but worth it. "

(Guard 1) " Hopefully she forgets this but incase she doesn't what'll you do... "

Suddenly the guard on the left stopped talking and looked behind Mina which made her freeze up and slowly turn around. Me and my brother did the same and we spotted papa who had a bunch of fish in what looked like a massive school just out of water. Seeing the food me and my brother got excited and ran up to papa.

(Eclina & L.B) " Papa! "

We started looking up at all the fish and our mouths started watering but papa wasn't looking at us but at the unconcious lady and said.

(Martiq) " I can handle that. "

Papa then started walking up to the unconcious lady and splashed water on her until she woke up to papa staring at her. She looked like she was going pale and tried to get up but papa made chains of air and kept her stuck to the ground and said.

(Martiq) " What we're you planning on doing to my children? "

(???) " N-n-nothing i-i swear. "

(Martiq) " Oh really. "

Papa started to send air into the fish which led to their scales popping off and seperate from the school of fish which started to turn into flying meat as papa then started to funnel water from the lake around us into a shape that he started to solidify by compressing it until the water looked like a solid chunk. Then papa started making the scales stick to the outer edge of the water which started to look like a giant scaly head then turned into a dragons head that looked like it was actualy alive as it blinked and looked down at the lady and roared. The sound was loud but papa shielded our ears so it wouldn't hurt us but the ladies ears started bleeding but everyone else seemed fine.

(Martiq) " You probably can't hear me now but this is light compared to what i could've done for threatning my children. "

Some people stood there petrified, some ran away, but there were some that changed from the looks i couldn't understand to awe as they looked at papa. Papa then removed the scales and sent the water back into the lake as he put the scales to the side of the bridge as he walked up to mina and said.

(Martiq) " Nice throw by the way i'm assuming she's a noble or something like that. "

Looking Mina over papa started giving her a inspecting look and started going "Hmmm" before saying.

(Martiq) " You seem interesting enough... When we come back i think i'll introduce you to Elaine and teach the two of you some stuff... And i won't let Sile have a headstart on me i can definetly teach better then she can. "

Mina looked shocked and she had to pinch herself before she asked.

(Mina) " But why me? "

(Martiq) " Well if i look at it from a human perpective your reaction was good and professional. I might not have liked it but in hindsight i'm not supposed to like having my kid threatened and for the ones who can't think that would probably be a good deterrant against them. You look up to Elaine and my daughters like her and she's responsible so i can teach the both of you and outshine my wife. "

We could hear what papa was saying but since we were too busy looking at the fish we hadn't moved so i had to shout.

(Eclina) " ARE YOU SURE PAPA? MAMA SAYS YOUR A BAD TEACHER. "

That made papa twitch and he lost hold on some fish which fell down which me and my brother grabbed in our mouth and walked over to papa with.

(Martiq) " That's not faaaair. "

(L.B) " Mmamma shhaid et wuz. "

(Eclina) " Mhm Mhm. "

(Martiq) " Don't talk with your mouths full. "

(L.B) " Vut uou du it all da time. "

Looking nervously and then suddenly shivering papa says.

(Martiq) " That's what uhhh... I do yea thats right you can't copy my thing. "

Me and my brother looked to each other and back to papa confused as he always said it'd be fine.

(Martiq) " U-ummmm LOOK OVER THERE A DRAGON. "

Papa pointed his snout somewhere behind us and me and my brother turned around to look but we didn't see anything but we heard a big splash and turned to look but papa was gone and the only ones left were Mina who was just standing in a daze looking over at the lake where papa probably jumped to, Someone in a black robe that seemed like he was Reina's age with black hair and blue eyes standing just as tall as Mina and he was looking at me and my brother in awe he was the same one who was looking excited too. There were some more people but they all started to leave but he started walking closer to us and tried to introduce himself but.

(???) " H-hello ny nam-fgh. "

He bit his tongue and then his face started getting bright red as Mina started to look at the newcomer saying.

(Mina) " Endis? When'd you get here? "

(Endis) " around the time you started petting them..."

Looking at us Endis says.

(Endis) " Umm can i pet you two? "

Looking at him my and my brother look to each other before we walk up to him and he hesitantly puts his hands on our heads and starts petting us. It felt nice but Mina knew him so i thought and asked.

(Eclina) " How do you know each other? "

(Mina) " We're cousins, His dad's my dad's brother. "

Hearing that i couldn't help but think.

~ Do we have cousins, Uncles, or other family? Mama and papa never mentioned their families before. ~

My brother probably had the same thought i did but didn't say anything. Soon papa came back and told us we should start making our way to the exit. As we walked through the town with Mina and Endis the people that had seen us before were looking at papa in awe while people that weren't there and only heard the roar looked terrified. Eventually we made it to the other side and papa told Mina.

(Martiq) " I'll be running through at full speed again maybe in four hours to go check on my other daughter and wife so don't forget to give a warning to your people so they don't get blown away. When we all come back and we get here you can get on my back and i'll bring you to where my wife is so i can get started on teaching you and my kids all together. "

Mina had an excited look in her eyes at the thought of being taught by papa. Endis looked a bit sad that we were going but my brother nuzzled him a bit then walked to join papa and i followed behind him.

(Martiq) " You two ready? "

(Eclina & L.B) " Yep. "

(Martiq) " Ok onwards we go. "

As we ran off i couldn't help but wonder.

~ I wonder what mina's going to do until we come back. ~

--------///----Mina POV----\--------

~ Did that just happen? I already pinched myself and got punched but is this actually real? ~

(Mina) " Endis pinch me. "

Without even questioning it he pinches my cheek and feeling the pain i accept that i just got a teacher that'll teach me and introduce me to my idol... I've never been so happy to live in Maron's Lake. But is he going to be a good teacher? He did kind of go from scary to joking with his kids in essentially seconds but he's definetly strong i don't think anyone could deny that with how much control he showed earlier.

(Mina) " I think i'm the luckiest person in the world. "

Looking to me Endis opened and closed his mouth a few times before he said.

(Endis) " I'm not sure i can say anything against that. "

(Mina) " Good. "

(Endis) " Do you think i could convince him to teach me more about my darkness magic? "

(Mina) " Maybe? Maybe not im not sure. "

(Endis) " Well i'll just have to hope i can. "

In Maron's Lake there were hardly if any darkness mages aside from Endis here and giving it taking days worth of travel to go to either the kingdom or finna which the former would be more likely to find darkness mages since the king's one while the latter would be a waste since its a small town. Comparing it to The lake our town's atleast twice the size of Finna and we've got a few thousand people living here so there being only a few Darkness mages here has to say something atleast.

(Mina) " Those kids were cute though right? "

(Endis) " And they had some really soft fur... they were pretty nice i wouldn't mind seeing how they normally live considering they had a fun dynamic. "

(Mina) " True... Oh shit. "

(Endis) " What? "

(Mina) " Just remembered what i did to the bat... Think i'll be fine? "

(Endis) " I mean what's she going to do? You're going to be thought by someone whose friends with the strongest S ranks in the entire Kingdom, Who says he's the one that ended up breaking all the windows from the main street to the drains, Someone that you said threatened to wipe us off the map on his own. What's she going to do to someone like that who offered to teach you? "

Thinking on that i knew he was right but most nobles are idiots.

(Mina) " I mean she did try to attack the kids after they told her she smelled bad. That doesn't really sound like someone who listens to logic. "

(Endis) " ... Well umm do your best? I'm definetly not the best person to ask for noble advice i doubt any of us are. "

(Mina) " That doesn't really fill me with confidence you doofus. "

Shrugging his shoulders Endis just go "Eh" and then we just start heading home. Me and Endis live together since both our parents live outside in different towns or cities. My parents work in the guild buissness as my Dad works as a blacksmith in the crafters guild while my mom works as a antidote and potion maker for the alchemists guild. They somehow ran into each other because a client they shared asked them if they could work together and paid them a comission to work on a made to order piece of equipment and things went from there.

Endis' parents are a whole different story considering his mom is a sort of well known assassin while his dad / my uncle was one of her marks and ended up falling for him mid job and decided to just pay her fine and killed the requester so she could be with my uncle whose a Guildmaster for an adventurers guild in a city a few days from the capital. Both pur parents said we should go on some adventures to find who we should be with and live a little and for once i'm happy that we took their advice.

As we got home me and Endis went to our respective bathrooms and decided to take a shower for when they came back so we wouldn't have any bad smells clinging to us. After we had finished we got dressed and started talking about what we should do until they came back. We were definetly excited and i couldn't help but be giddy thinking i might get the chance to close the gap between me and my idol.