Smelling the breath of a disgusting older man on her neck was the last drop for Taisetsuna, and she reacted immediately. She put her hand behind the man’s neck and pulled him down at the same time that she leaned back and raised her knee. Blood splashed all over the table when he got his nose broken, and Taisetsuna took a few chunks of his face with her sharp claws. She jumped to the ground with a swift movement, and when the second Adventurer was going for the sword he had on his waist, he got a strong head-kick from the angry Taisetsuna that sent him flying, and he landed in the empty space between two tables, completely knocked out.

Taisetsuna glanced at the Mage and saw him raising his hand full of Magic. In the next second, her vision was obstructed by Nozomu that was standing in front of her using his tray as a shield, and he got the blast of a powerful Water Slash that dissipated as soon as it touched his body. Taisetsuna placed her hand over Nozomu’s right shoulder and hit the Mage with an overly powerful Fire Spear that threw him against the wall behind at almost three meters distance. He fell on the floor, a mess of burned flesh and clothes that was screaming in pain. Taisetsuna jumped to him, using the tables and the shoulders of some Adventurers to arrive faster, and she created a Wind Tornado around the Mage to pull out the flames. She stared at the Mage and let him scream in pain for a few seconds before pouring a huge amount of Healing Magic on him. When he stopped screaming, she faced the surprised Adventurers that were in absolute silence, looking at her.

Taisetsuna shouted, and her voice echoed around the room, “Anyone else wants to slap my butt or force me to a kiss? Because I can take you all at the same time if you are up for a fight! Bunch of morons! Who told you that you have any right to touch a woman without her consent? Who raised you, your mothers or pigs?”

Before any of the Adventurers could say anything, the voice of Koyaga Azusake spoke while she was putting a dagger against the Adventurer with a broken nose that was going for his sword, “Now, now, there is no need for more violence, right? You are going to pay for the meal and leave before I take your head off, right?”

The Adventurer slowly nodded and took his purse from his waist that Koyaga Azusake grabbed and shook it with a grin, “I believe this is more than enough to pay for the meal, damages, and the stress you inflicted on our dear Taisetsuna. Get your friends and leave, I don’t want to see any of you here so soon.”

The two Adventurers left, carrying the naked Mage that was covered with the ashes of his burned robe. Koyaga Azusake went to Taisetsuna and pointed to the pile of ashes on the floor, and to the trail the Mage was leaving while going to the door.

“Go get a broom and clean this mess, Taisetsuna.”

“But…”

Koyaga Azusake frowned, “Did I stutter, girl? As for everyone else, may this serve as a lesson. You know the rules, no touching, no abuse, no disrespect. Anyone that doesn’t follow these simple rules, is not welcome here. What are you all looking at me for? Eat, drink, and get out of here! There are plenty of new Quests on the Board if you don’t have anything to do!”

The Adventurers quickly returned to their tables and began to drink and eat in silence. When Taisetsuna returned with the broom and a dustpan, she saw a few Adventurers smiling at her, and a lot congratulated her in a low voice so that they didn’t call the attention of the angry receptionist that was filling more cups with ale.

Nozomu went to the kitchen and returned with the wheeled cart full of dishes. As he was grabbing two plates, Koyaga Azusake whispered in his ear, “I saw what you did. It’s better if you hide that ability of yours and tell Taisetsuna to hide the fact that she can use three types of Magic. There are plenty of Mages here that will be jealous and could give her a lot of problems.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Milady. If you excuse me, I have to deliver these and go get more.”

Koyaga Azusake made a disguised smile and mumbled as she was filling two new cups, “He sure is interesting, alright. Oh, if I was younger… What am I saying, I don’t know how I will manage not to go to his room one of these nights! He was so cool…”

...

When only two Adventurers were in the Guild looking at the Quest Board, Koyaga Azusake lowered her voice and said, “Taisetsuna, when you finish cleaning the tables, go get Nozomu and come with me to the Guild Master’s office.”

“I am sorry for causing that mess, I just…”

“You don’t need to worry, we are just going to talk with him. I am not mad for what you did, but I had to scold you in front of them to pretend that I have some sort of control over what happens here, or else everything will fall apart. Things are normally calm because they all know that I don’t tolerate certain things and many of them already faced me when I got angry and lost either their pride or some flesh, but those three are just stupid, they are always causing problems around here.”

Taisetsuna bit her lower lip and rushed to the tables. In less than ten minutes, she finished and went to call Nozomu, who arrived with her and had a puzzled look on his face. Koyaga Azusake signalled with her head for them to follow her, after glancing at the Adventurers that were leaving with a Quest Form in their hands.

She went along the corridor and knocked on the door of the office, opening it without waiting for authorization to enter. Inside, the Guild Master had a few papers on his hands and raised his head with a wrinkled left eyebrow.

“What’s the matter, Koyaga? I heard a commotion in there, but it ended quickly with you shouting. Someone annoyed you?”

Without answering, Koyaga Azusake went to the closet on the right wall. From a closed door there, she took a box that she placed on the desk, over the scattered papers. When she opened the box, Nozomu saw a round and transparent sphere inside.

Koyaga Azusake spoke as she was signalling with her hand for Taisetsuna to approach, “I just want to show you something. I think you must be aware of this so that you are not caught in a surprise. Taisetsuna, put your hand on this sphere and gather your Magic. Don’t worry, you are among friends.”

Taisetsuna nervously did as she was told, and the moment she placed her hand on the sphere, it started to glow brightly in three different colours in quick succession. Red for Fire Magic, White for Healing Magic, and Grey for Wind Magic.

The Guild Master had his eyes wide open, and he stuttered, “N-no way! I-is this for real? The Priest told me they were going to surprise me, but he didn’t tell me she could use three types of Magic, and in such amount! Look how the sphere is shining! You know how rare this is, Taisetsuna?”

“The Priest told me, and he also told me that I should hide this.”

Koyaga Azusake signalled Nozomu Shinchaku to approach, and the moment he put his hand over the sphere, it remained transparent. Not even a dot of colour appeared.

The Guild Master made a half-smile, “It seems you are unable to use Magic, and that’s also very rare. Everyone can use Magic, even if it’s only a small amount, but you can’t use any.”, and sadness could be felt in his voice.

Koyaga Azusake gathered a small Wind Tornado and said while throwing it against Nozomu, “That’s not the only unusual thing about him.”

The moment the Wind Tornado touched Nozomu’s chest, it disappeared. Koyaga spoke with a big smile plastered on her face, “See? He is immune to Magic, and it dissipates the moment it touches him. A very useful skill indeed. He can join a Party of Adventurers and work as a shield. As for Taisetsuna, any Party would love to have a Mage that can use three types, and she also knows how to fight. They are still young, so I think it would be better if they remained here working as they are, and training with you or with an Adventurer in the backyard, in secret. Someone you trust blindly, of course, because this can’t leak.”

“I see what you mean. You know, training will be enough for giving them some pointers, but they will need the experience that only joining a Party can give. Perhaps we can wait for them to get older, or even better, they save their money to enrol in the Adventurers Academy at the Capital. I can lend them half of the money for the tuition, but the rest must be theirs.”

Taisetsuna had her eyes sparkling and Nozomu looked around, puzzled by everyone’s reaction. He asked, “What is that Adventurers Academy? Some sort of School?”, still a little doubtful because it seemed he was the only one that didn’t have the faintest idea of what the Guild Master was talking about.

Taisetsuna vigorously nodded with a gleam in her eyes, “Yeah, it’s the best way to prepare someone to become a full-fledged Adventurer! Some of the best Parties in the country started in that Academy! We used to dream about applying to go there! We even used to pretend that we were studying there and going on Quests when we were little! Oh, you don’t remember, do you?”

“Sorry, not a single bit. We had fun, at least?”

“Loads of fun! We used to play like that for hours! The Priest joined a few times, and gave us a few errands to do, calling them important Quests! If we did the errand perfectly, he would pay us with a tasty dessert, as a prize!”

Nozomu spoke with a slight smile, “That sure sounds nice. At least you remember and you can tell me about it. I can almost picture myself going to the chicken hens to get the eggs as if I were a mighty Adventurer!”

“Yes, that sure was fun! One time you pretended the roaster was a Monster and you tried to catch him. He pecked your head so many times, that I thought he was going to take your brain out! I laughed so much!”

The Guild Master interrupted that happy talk, “So, that means you both want to apply to the Academy? Because it’s not easy, you both have to compete with a bunch of youngsters that will for sure apply at the same time, and you must pay half of the tuition. I can lend you the rest and you can pay me later, but I don’t think you have enough money for that even with the Potions you sold me.”

Taisetsuna widened her eyes to Nozomu and signalled with her head in the direction of the Guild Master. Nozomu frowned, wondering what she wanted. Taisetsuna rolled her eyes and said, “We have a few more Potions to sell, so if you have money to buy them, we can gather enough money for the tuition. I think we also need to have more money with us, for the extra expenses. Books, School materials, weapons and such.”

The Guild Master spoke, “I can buy more in a few days when some of my Adventurers return with a finished Quest. They will give me the Guild’s share and I can buy more Potions. And you are right, money for the tuition is not the only thing you need, you also need money for everything else you mentioned.”, while still wondering how many Potions they really had.

Taisetsuna made a small Wind Tornado on her hand and faced Nozomu, “It’s better if you show him what you can do, Nozo. We need his opinion on this.”