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You walked downstairs and outside to investigate the loud noise and were met with Yuu, Ace, Deuce, and Grim full-on sprinting out of the mine with a look of terror on their faces. "Woah! Dude, what happened?" You walked towards them, noticing visible injuries on the boys. "This should be far enough, I think?" Grim panted. "There was a monster in there!" Yuu panted as he pointed to the mine. "It attacked us...!" You furrowed your eyebrows and squinted in an effort to see something in the dark of the mine, but ultimately weren't able to see anything. "Owww... What was that thing? No one said there'd be anything like that!" Ace groaned.
"That was no normal ghost, that's for sure." Deuce grimaced. "Let's just give up and go home. I'll happily take the expulsion if it means never having to fight that thing again." Ace groaned and rubbed the back of his head where he apparently was hit. "What?! Nuh-uh, not happenin'! I'd rather die than get expelled from Night Raven! How can you give up when the stone is right there?" Deuce frowned and motioned to the mine. "Pfft. Big talk from someone who's not even half the mage I am. You want that stone so bad, go get it yourself. I'm out." Ace began to walk away. "Oh YEAH?! Fine, go back to your coop, you big chicken!" Deuce suddenly yelled at Ace.
Woah. Why did bro go from a 5 to a 10, damn. "Whaaaaat?! Who're you callin' chicken, huh?!" Ace turned around and crossed his arms. "Whoa, Deuce... Is it just me, or did you, like, turn into a totally different person just now?" Grim looked at Deuce, confused. "Huh?" Deuce coughed. "Sorry... Lost my cool for a second there." Deuce sighed as he brushed his pants off. It was silent for a second before Yuu spoke up. "So now what?" Yuu looked around. "Can't you guys just blow that thing up with magic?" Grim crossed his arms. "Using magic at a greater scale, or using different types of magic - those things require training." Deuce explained.
"Yeah, that's why magic academies exist. It takes a lot of training before you can snap your fingers and turn your thoughts into magic. And the more flustered you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes." Ace put his hands on his hips. Ohh... That's why those ghosts disappeared when you screamed at them! When you screamed, you were scared and were imagining them disappearing! Which they did! "Oh, I'd assumed spellcasting just came naturally." Yuu shrugged. "Nope, although if the magic's your specialty, you can use it more intuitively." Ace explained.
"Anyway, we need to find some way to defeat that creature and get the magestone." Deuce declared. Ace snickered. "Yeaaaaah. Just like the time with the chandelier, right? You "found some way," and now here we are." He rolled his eyes. "We just fought that thing and it creamed us. So what exactly is your plan here, genius? Because I sure don't trust you to improvise!" And with that, Deuce and Ace began to argue and bicker like siblings. It was really getting on your nerves. You were so mentally tired from today and this constant arguing was pissing you off. Your head was starting to hurt too, and Ace and Deuce's rising volume was not helping.
"...Oh my GOD. Can the both of you shut the fuck up?!" You yelled at the two with a slight growl in your tone. Ace and Deuce gasped at your profanity. All of the boys were silent. "Whoa, that was harsh. Where'd that come from?" Grim mumbled. "Why don't we just... Oh! I don't know... Work together? Is it really that hard? Can't you just put your pride aside for one second?" You scowled and crossed your arms. "Me? Work together with Loosey-Deucey? No way. He'd get me killed!" Ace crossed his arms. "Like it'd be some treat for me to work with you?!" Deuce frowned and put his hands on his hips. You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed. "Okay. So, why don't we form a plan and all work together?" You put your hands on your hips.
"A proper plan? Like some kinda buddy move? Is that a joke? You always say the lamest things with the straightest face, Y/N." Ace rolled his eyes. "Agreed. No way could I work together with him." Deuce crossed his arms. "Yeah, but... Gettin' expelled on the first day... That's pretty lame too. Maybe even lamer." Grim added, making a good point. Both Ace and Deuce paused. "W-well..." Ace mumbled and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, there's nothing cool about that!" Yuu crossed his arms. "Gah... Fine. Let's just get this over with, then. All right, Y/N. What's the plan?" Everyone turned to you.
"Uh! Okay! So..."
.
.
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"Y/N... Is this plan of yours really gonna work? I'm sca- I mean, I'm a little... uh, hungry." Grim frowned. You nodded. "Don't worry! I think this could really work!" You smiled. "It really could. Let's go, Y/N!" Grim breathed out nervously and began to yell. "H-hey, monster! I'm uh... I-I'm over here!" A monster emerged from the cave. "Grrraaawrrr! BEGOOOOONE!" It bellowed. That was... bigger than you thought! The head was made of glass and it wore a red tunic. It was filled with black goop. Grim began to run. "He's comin' our way! Yuu!" He called to Yuu. "Right over here, monster!" Yuu waved his arms over his head and yelled for the monster's attention. The monster shifted to look at Yuu. "Grrurgh? Thieeef thiiis waaay tooooo... Neeevvva giiive stooones! Neeevvvaaa!" The monster held a pickaxe, which it swung around in an attempt to deal damage. "Eep! If it lands one of those punches, we're toast!" Grim looked scared. "Let's lure him as far from the cave as we can." Yuu called to Grim and Grim nodded.
"Begooone! BEGOOOOOOONE!" The monster bellowed once again and followed Yuu and Grim further away from the mine. "We got him a good distance away from the mine!" Grim announced. "Now's our chance!" Yuu gave Ace the signal and Ace smirked. "You bet. I got this! One extra-large gust of wind, comin' up!" He cast a large gust of wind at the monster, pushing it around. "With a side of Grim's blazin'-hot fire! MYAAAH!" Grim blew a large ball of fire at the monster, dealing mass amounts of damage. "Grrraaahhh?!" It yelled with surprise. "How's that taste?! With my winds fanning them, even Grim's feeble flames can become an inferno!" Ace said with a cocky smirk.
"Whaddaya mean "feeble"?! Ya really don't know how to shut yer mouth, do ya?" Grim growled at Ace. "Deuce! Now!" You called to Deuce. "Just stay calm, aim carefully... and pull out the biggest, heaviest thing I can think of... Get 'em, cauldron!" A large cauldron appeared and crushed the monsters, courtesy of Deuce. "Gwaaah?!" The monster yelped in surprise. "Nailed it! The plan's workin'! Look, Yuu! That monster got smashed flat by a falling cauldron, just like Ace did!" Grim pointed at the crushed monster. Ace glared at Grim. "Coulda done without the reminder, thanks! This has been one drag after another." He mumbled. "Quick! While it's distracted, we need to get that magestone!" Deuce motioned for our group to move.
"Guh?! Waaait! Nooooooo!" The monster rumbled. As per the plan, you stuck around the entrance to warn the boys if the monster got up. Deuce picked up a shiny stone. "That's it! That's a magestone!" The monster seemed to panic. "Dooon't tooouch thaaaaat!" "Uhh! You guys might wanna hurry! He's nearly wriggled free!" You called into the cave. "Hey, Deuce! You gotta add more weight!" Ace looked at Deuce and Deuce seemed to struggle to think. "Y-you mean something heavier? Uh... I summon thee, cauldron!" A cauldron fell onto the monster. "And also, uh... Um... Another cauldron!" Yet another cauldron fell onto the monster. "And a cauldron on top of that! All the cauldrons!" A few more cauldrons piled onto the monster, causing it to roar viciously.
"Is that the only thing you know how to summon?!" Ace sassed Deuce. "Pipe down already! I'm worked up enough as it is!" Deuce frowned. "We got the magestone! Now let's get outta here!" Grim began to run out of the mine. "Roger that!" Ace nodded and began to run when suddenly the monster roared "MYYY STOOOOOOONE!" and pushed off all of the cauldrons. "Are you kiddin' me?! It's still coming! It pushed off all that weight!" Ace stared at the monster in awe. "Ooooooooogh...! Giiive it baaaaack...!" It groaned and swung around its axe. "It's too fast! It's about to catch us!" Deuce nearly dodged the swinging pickaxe.
How can you help? You need to help! How do you do what you did with the ghost? You thought hard and grabbed your magic pen. Here goes nothing. You took in a deep breath, thinking hard about what you wanted to happen.
You let out a sudden scream, cracking the monster's glass face. "RAAAAAAAGH!" It growled as it took damage. You did it! It was kind of weak, but you actually did it! You screamed again, cracking the head yet again. "Blow him over!" You directed. Ace nodded and sent a gust of wind at the monster, almost knocking it over. "Keep adding wind!" You turned to Deuce. "Aim a cauldron right at his head!" Deuce seemed worried but nodded. Just as the Cauldron collided with the monster's glass head, you screamed again, helping the cauldron shatter the head of the beast. Ace's wind blew the monster over, defeating the monster for good.
Deuce panted, he must have used a lot of power to direct the cauldron. "Is it... over?" Ace stared at the monster, which was now disintegrating. Grim looked around. "I think... we won? I think we did it!" Grim smiled. Deuce pumped his fist. "All right!" Cheers erupted as Grim, Ace, and Deuce joined in a group high-five. Yuu smirked and put his hands on his hips. "We're all really good friends." This comment immediately made the three separate. "Uh... I don't think that had anything to do with it." Deuce averted his gaze. "Yeah! Spare us the clichés, Yuu!" Ace rolled his eyes. "There's no "together" here! We won 'cause of me! This is all from me bein' a magical genius!" You deadpanned at Grim.
Ace turned to you. "Y'know... I hate to admit it, but... We mostly won because of your plan." Ace gave you credit. "Yeah... if you hadn't managed to keep your cool and tell us all what to do, we never would have got this magestone. Now I won't get expelled. And wow, is THAT a relief!" Deuce smiled at you. "We won because we all worked together." You nodded with a smile. "Yeah, yeah, lessons were learned, et cetera. Can we just go home already? I'm wiped." Ace yawned.
"Usin' all that magic made me hungry!" Something suddenly caught Grim's attention. "Huh? What's this?" Grim sniffed around the fallen ash of the monster, pulling out a black stone. "Is that a part of the monster we just beat? It looks like... a magestone? But it's black as coal! I've never seen one like that before." Deuce inspected it. Grim sniffed it. "What IS this? It smells amazing!" He smiled. "Are you insane?" Ace put his hands on his hips. "Must be some kinda fancy monster candy that it was hidin' from us! If this tastes half as good as it smells..." Grim then ate the rock.
Yuu frowned at Grim. "Spit it out! Out! Bad cat!" Grim paused and then suddenly yelled. "MYAAAH!" Deuce furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you okay?!" Ace crossed his arms. "That's what you get for eating trash!" Grim's expression was unreadible. "Oooooogh... Urrrgggh... That... was AMAZING!" Grim grinned with delight, shocking Ace and Deuce. "Rich in flavor and full-bodied... Like sweet, fragrant flowers burstin' into bloom on my tongue. A whole field of 'em! Right in my mouth!" Grim smiled happily.
"Gross. Monsters must have real weird tastes." Ace put his hands on his hips. "You might be onto something there... Most humans don't take random stuff they find on the ground and just pop it into their mouths." Deuce motioned to Grim. Yuu shrugged. "Monsters really will eat anything, I guess." Grim pat his stomach, satisfied. "Myah ha ha ha! Man, was that great! Don't worry about me. I don't got a weak stomach like you humans do." Grim smirked. "Hmph. We'll see if you're so smug when you're sick later tonight." Ace smirked at Grim. Deuce smiled. "Okay, let's pull ourselves together. We need to get this magestone to the headmage!"
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