After the raiding Azual has been dealt with, Cavaron clapped his head and exclaimed, "SHIT!" the people around him were wondering what went wrong. Ethra came up to him and asked about it. Cavaron replied, "I forgot to keep one alive fir interrogation." while massaging his temple in frustration. He just sighed afterwards and went back to Aimi.

"Now then, what to do next?" he wondered out loud, "Okay, Burkhard. You may release the barrier now, but stay by her side just in case."

Burkhard affirmed the order and became a floating shield that follows Aimi around. Aimi followed the floating shield with her gaze wth complete curiosity. "Don't worry, Burkhard's Floating Shield is only a level below his Absolute Aegis." Cavaron commented before turning to the three leaders.

Gulfried was still frustrated after watching Cavaron fight, 'Why? Why!? Dammit! We can't even bind him to our service!' irritation plagued his mind.

Out of the one hundred soldiers with them, only twenty died against an enemy numbering to twice their own due to Cavaron. The survivors had mixed feelings of fear, awe, and respect for Cavaron. However, this was oly because they were the most recent generation. If many of them were from the generation of the elder who ran away, only one thing would enter their lives: absolute fear.

Gulfried, Ethra, and Esserot were together as Cavaron made his way to them. "So, what now?" he asked the three. Gulfried still had his mind clouded with rage, therefore it was up to Ethra and Esserot to... negotiate... with Cavaron.

Esserot came forward as he sheathed his double hammer, "Sir Cavaron, with your power..." but Cavaron repeated what he said when they first met, "No, not me. Her, she is your champion. I am but her senior who will train her." Esserot had no idea what to say next. They all wanted Cavaron to aid them, but he still refused. Oft a time when a king may put hs knight to death for insubordination, but they cannot do so with Cavaron. The only thing they couls really do is put their hopes on Aimi.

Ethra placed her hands on Esserot's arm, and motioned him to make way for her, "Then, Sir Cavaron, so be it. We shall place our hopes on the girl... um..."

Cavaron went next to Aimi and nudged her forward, "Introduce yourself."

Aimi heaitantly went forward before Ethra, "M-m-my name is Aoyama Aimi, a p-p-pleasure to have met you! Please take care of me!" and introduced herself while stuttering. Ethra's face changed to an endearing mother meeting a child, "Lady Aimi? May I call you that?"

Aimi blushed when Ethra called her by her given name, "Um... um... Aimi is my given name... so..." clearly, she felt a bit uncomfortable. This made Ethra confused, and made Cavaron explain why.

"The world and country where Aimi comes from has their family name at the beginning followed by their given name. They also have this custom of extreme respect where calling one by their given name is reserved for family and close friends."

Ethra stared at Cavaron before speaking, "You seem to call her freely by her given name." and was rather appalled by the difference in treatment.

Cavaron shrugged, "Because I don't care about their customs. Besides, I am her senior. I have a right to do so." and replied to Ethra. The girl in question, Aimi, just stood next to them waiting for their conversation to end.

"Seeing as you're the eldest here, I suppose I could ask for your assistance." Cavaron spoke to Ethra. Ethra's eyes went wide when he mentioned who the eldest was. Varon noticed this, went closer to her ear, "In fact, you're nearing 104 years, right Princess?" and whispered.

Ethra stood there in shock at his revelation. It would seem that Cavaron spoke the truth and knows her personally. Gulfried and Esserot noticed the change in Ethra, and became worried as they approached. Ethra noticed the two and turned to face them. She was smiling, "No worries, my friends. We will leave our hopes with Lady Aoyama under the guidance of Sir Cavaron." and told the other leaders to practically back off. She faced Cavaron again, without losing her motherly demeanor, "Anything you request, we will do our utmost to provide."

Cavaron smirked, "Information. Give us all the information you have regarding the past century, and about the Azual." He requested to Ethra, "Also..." and looked at Gulfried. Gulfried nearly flinched at Cavaron's heavy gaze, "We will make this mana-well our first base. While we are here, I shall train Aimi and get her ready to fight. In the meantime, no unwarranted disturbances unless absolutely necessary. Feel free to let some Azual enter the area, she could use some practice, and I could get some more information."

---

The... negotiations... were concluded with Ethra, and the remaning soldiers dispersed. Cavaron, Aimi, and Burkhard were left behind on the mana-well.

Aimi had her gaze wander the area and was about to ask Cavaron a question when Burkhard returned to human form and covered her mouth, "Shh, Master is about to summon more of my comrades."

Cavaron stood where he felt he could absorb the optimum amount of mana from the well, he sat on the ground and had the mana enter his body upon closing his eyes. After a minute passed, he suddenly opened his eyes and began to chant.

"With the goodness of the earth, you became the root of our homes! Your power of everlasting nurture, provide us, your children, with your protection! Lady of the Earth, Avani!"

The soil beside him rose up. Little by little, as it was fed with mana, the form of a woman appeared until the hard soil broke off to reveal a beautiful elemental, "The Lady of the Earth greets her son. Hello again, Cavaron."

Cavaron acknowledged the elemental Avani and had her accompany Aimi. She went to greet Aimi, "Greetings, I am Avani, an elemental of the earth." and sat next to her. Aimi was filled with awe at the power of Cavaron, especially at the beauty of Avani.

Avani had tanned skin, akin to the brown soil, with long hair as green as the grass. Her eyes were green as well as her lips. She wore a gown of leaves that fluttered in the wind and, like the vast earth, her chest was no joke.

Noticing Aimi's gaze, Avani just smiled at the young girl, and Aimi immediately averted her gaze as she blushed. Cavaron saw this, 'Yep, definitely a closet lez.' and thought before continuing to summon another contract. Aimi also sneezed for some reason.

Cavaron resumed to absorb more mana into his body as he prepared for another summoning. During this minute, Burkhard and Avani were chatting with each other.

"Lady Avani, who do you think Master will summon next?" the Shield Spirit asked the elemental. Being spirits, their status is actually lower than elementals, but because it was Cavaron who contracted them, this disparity in status disappears. However, old habits die hard.

Avani placed her hand on her cheek also wondered, "Well, you were here longer with that child. Did he say anything interesting?"

Burkhard thought back to the events earlier and tried to remember some details mentioned. Aimi, who heard Avani's question, answered instead, "Cavaron-senpai said that we will make this place as the first base when he spoke to the angel Ethra."

Avani was surprised at Aimi's answer, "Base? First base? Oh, no way. He summoned me for that!?" it seems that she knows what will happen, making Aimi raise a brow at the elemental's reaction. "If I'm right, he might summon Tirta or Glacia next."

Cavaron finished absorbing enough mana, 'Maaaannnnnn, I LOVE THIS PLACE!' and gleefully thought to himself. After which, he opened his eyes and began chanting anew.

"Water of life, your gift encompass across all beings! Your freshness, your purity, grant us your blessing as we live to forge a path in our lives! Lady of the Water, Tirta!"

Dense fog appeared around Cavaron, and immediately a gate appeared. As the gate opened, a woman with blue hair popped her head out, "Hi~ You called, Cavaron?" and went through. "Oh, hey Avani, Burkhard."

Tirta was a humanoid elemental wearing a blue watery slit gown. Her skin had a lighter shade of blue and her hair was navy blue, her eye color is unrecognizable because she has them closed. Like Avani, her chest is like the vast ocean. Aimi was staring at the water elemental and then back at the earth elemental, and had her hands on her chest... a typical Japanese chest.

Cavaron nodded at Tirta and stood up while motioning to the others to come closer. Avani was reluctant since she correctly guessed who the next contract was and had an idea about what will happen next. Cavaron looked at Avani but before he could open his mouth, "Okay, child. How big do you want it?" Avani interrupted him with a question.

Since he got beaten to the punch, "Well, just big enough to house four people. Don't forget to add the kitchen and bath." Avani just waved her hand and left to do her task of apparently building a house. Cavaron then looked at the water elemental, Tirta, "Tirta, I need you to look for water deposits nearby. Although just having you produce water is good, I need to get Aimi used to scavenging in the wild." Tirta, like Avani, left to do her task.

While Avani and Tirta were doing their respective tasks, Cavaron faced Aimi and had her sit down with him. "So, are you really a lesbian?" he dropped an abrupt question, by which she replied with a red face, "NO!" and looked at her chest. Cavaron noticed the way she was looking down, "Oh... Oh! Okay... okay... nevermind, then." and dropped the subject.

Aimi was almost in tears, "Muu... senpai..." and muttered.

Cavaron breathed in and let out a sigh, "Fuu... Okay. Let's get you started with the basics. First up, have you done martial arts in your world?" and asked his junior.

Aimi almost immediately answered him, "Um... I haven't done close-combat martial arts, but I was a member of the archery club."

"Ranged, huh?" Cavaron nodded as he thought of the next question, "If, let us say, we make archery your proficiency, would you like to learn magic to supplement your abilities?"

Aimi thought for a while before answering, "... how would I know if I could use magic?" and asked a valid question in return.

"So, you're interested?"

"Well, yes. I would love to learn magic."

Cavaron nodded at her answers once more, "Okay, I need you to take your most comfortable position, be it sitting, standing, or lying down. Whatever is the most comfortable for you."

Immediately, Aimi sat in a Lotus position, 'That's comfortable for her? Whatever, then.' and Cavaron was surprised in his thoughts.

Aimi was waiting for Cavaron's next instruction, "Close your eyes and try to feel some sort of power within your body. If we use the words of your world, it's similar to qi."

It took Aimi some time to get some semblance of feeling a power within her before Cavaron continued and activated his Mana Sight, 'That... that's a large amount...' and was baffled at the mana within Aimi's body. Her mana core was visible through Mana Sight and was next to her heart should be. Compared to Cavaron whose mana is practically fused to his soul, Aimi, being a newbie, had an external mana core that formed after the summoning. 'Why is it that summoning rituals give us mana cores?' Cavaron, even after eight hundred years, still had no idea how to explain the phenomenon. 'It seems as though the gods of fate are not that cruel to leave us hanging without the ability to cast magic but still...'

Suddenly, Aimi broke out sweating heavily making Cavarom stop her, "What happened? Are you okay?" and asked as he shook her awake.

Aimi slowly opened her eyes, "I... I felt something in my chest. When I focused on it, it started to expand throughout my body."

"That should be just right. Congratulations, you have mana." he congratulated her.

-----------------

Still no flashbacks... but have more elementals! Expect this arc to be longer than usual.