When I fought Benjamin for the last time, it was just blossoming into Fall. Now, we were approaching the end of that season and the beginning of the next. No more leaves fell from the trees above us as the weather began to slowly become colder.
The wood cabin was still a temporary base of operations for Night Raid, as we still wanted to be safe regarding Seryu. Nowadays, it was starting to feel a bit busy, with at least four people in it at any given time.
"Aaaand... Fire!"
A gunshot rang out, scaring the birds around us off. I was facing off with several targets of varying lengths away. In my hands, I held Mine's Pumpkin.
The bullet that I fired off from it landed a few inches away from the closest target. I took my eye off of the scope of the rifle and sighed a bit.
"You're getting closer," Mine said. "But your aim is still off." She crossed her arms as she stared down the spot where the bullet made its mark. "Why don't we take a break?"
"...Ok," I said, turning and handing the rifle to Mine. She took it from my hands and set it down to do some maintenance.
"You're doing good, (f/n). Considering that you've never used a rifle, and you're missing your left eye, I'd say you've improved a lot." Mine said, taking apart pieces of the rifle.
"Thanks. But I'd like to learn quicker, if possible." I said, feeling maybe a tiny bit frustrated.
"I get it. My Imperial Arms is yours now, right? You need to be just as good as I am with it." She said, turning to me a bit as I sat down on the leafy ground below us.
"...Hey, do you think it would be possible for me to use my own Imperial Arms on top of it?" I asked.
"Hmm? I dunno. Our souls are kinda... one now, right? We're kinda fused into one person in a way." Mine said. "That seems to come with a few bonuses."
"Yeah. Speaking of which, wanna practice that teleporting trick you did?" I asked.
Mine turned to me and nodded to herself, "Sure. Sounds good. Last time, I could only do it because of the tense situation I was in; it was all instinct for us both. It'll be good if we can learn to do that consistently."
I stood up with her and started to walk off. I turned back at her, now about 20 feet away, "This distance should be good." I said, raising my voice a bit. "Give it a go."
"Guide me through it one more time." She said, setting down Pumpkin and closing her eyes to focus.
"Right. So first, you need to focus on the image of your body becoming lighter. Imagine it as if you're fading away into the wind." I said.
I watched her from several feet as she focused. Her breathing slowed down and deepened. In the next moment, her entire figure began to become a bit blurry. It glowed a gentle blue light.
"You're doing good. Keep it up. Maintain the image of your body fading away. Imagine your soul separating into tiny pieces"
Her body began to become a bit transparent. Her shoulders tensed up but suddenly relaxed a moment later.
"Ugh, I can't do it!" She shouted in frustration. "Every time I get close, I lose my focus."
I sighed a bit and furrowed my brow, "Yeah... This certainly isn't making itself easy."
"Speaking of which, how do you know all this? Like, the process I have to go through?" Mine asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, it's kinda speculative work. I read a book a long time ago with something called a 'Familiar'. It's a magical entity that's linked to the soul of someone else... Kinda like you right now." I said.
"So, you're basing this all on a story?" Mine said.
"Yeah. It's the best lead I have to go on. But it doesn't seem like it's all that much..." I said.
"That's fine. We need to figure this out sooner than later. But it doesn't have to be all in one day, I think." Mine said.
"Right. What was it Najenda said about our missions again?" I asked, trying to recall what we were told a few weeks ago.
"She told us that we should take a break and focus on training for the time being. She said that she'll be leaving any missions up to those like Akame who are already nearing their peak of ability." Mine said, reminding me.
"Right. So now, it's up to us to train... All of us." I looked back into the cabin and saw a few people. Of course, Seryu was there as usual. But alongside her, the recovering Bulat and the new owner of Incursio: Tatsumi were there. All of them were standing around, seeming quite busy, before walking outside through the back door.
"Heya! You two training?" Bulat said, walking outside with a basic spear in his hand. He had quite a few scars adorning his body. They were small, but there were several of them.
"Yeah. Although, I think we're about to finish up." I said.
"I see. Next time, we oughta train together!" He said with a friendly smile, inviting me to make their group of three into one of five.
"Sure. I don't mind." I responded.
Bulat was someone who I had little real interaction within Night Raid. I was always curious to know more about him. But that could wait.
I made my way inside the cabin with Mine. The two of us were alone now.
I turned to her, "Hey. Did you want to try going on that date again?" I asked. "We always seem to get interrupted on them. But I have a good feeling about this one."
"...Yeah. Yeah, I'd like to try it again." Mine said. "Why don't we try going back to the town we were in when you got kidnapped? I think I'd like to hear more about that town, and you seem pretty knowledgeable."
"Sure... I'd actually like to explore it as well. I probably need to... look around a bit more. Why don't we leave a note and head out?" I said.
Mine lifted an eyebrow, questioning my words. But, she brushed it off. "Sounds good. I'm... Uhh, looking forward to it." She said, blushing a bit.
We wrote a note, letting everyone know where we went and why, then exited out of the cabin.