Ninya rests her back against the trunk of a tree as she watched Tsuare breathe heavily. Her sister was strangely unfit, and this is despite the fact that she's been working nonstop for years now. "Are you okay?"

  "I am—" Tsuare breathed heavily; she waved off Ninya's concerns. "It's just, I need to catch my breath, I'm kind of exhausted right now."

  "You need cardio," Ninya pointed out while checking the coin pouch Mistress Yuri gave them as an allowance for the entire trip. This is more than enough to pay for a carriage, if only they can find one on the way to the capital. "We can ride a carriage if we find one, which is probably not going to happen since we live in the middle of nowhere."

  It was disappointing, but that was the truth of the matter. Coming across a crossroad which leads to various cities should lead them to spotting a merchant caravan, but carriages are another matter entirely; a coach and his vehicle rarely went out of cities as the risk of bandits or monsters attacking them is simply too high.

  "Did Lord Antikythera physically train you?" Tsuare said as she found a spot under the shade of a tree. She fixed her blonde hair and leaned back. "Is it just me or am I not sweating?"

  "Our clothes are enchanted." Yet another gift from her teacher, one that Ninya was unaware of until now. She wanted to sigh but held herself back—she didn't want to feel disappointed or negative towards Lord Antikythera lying to her about this because she's sure that she wouldn't have accepted her gear if she knew that they were enchanted.

  "Huh," Tsuare didn't seem to mind this fact, nor was she shocked upon knowing it. She lifted her jacket's colr and smiled. "I never wore enchanted items before."

  "Neither have I." Ninya gave her sister a deadpan look. Seriously, why is Tsuare treating this entire thing like it was nothing? "You know how valuable these are, right?"

  "I do, I definitely do." Tsuare nodded with confidence. "Enchanted items are expensive and they can cost even Baharuth's emperor a fortune to buy, but I think Lord Antikythera doesn't care about its price in the slightest."

  "I guess." Now Ninya was irritated. She stood up and began walking. "I'm leaving you behind by the way, you better catch up or else you'll be alone here~"

  She heard Tsuare shuffle to stand up behind her. "I have a hunch that you didn't like my replies just now."

  "I didn't." Ninya didn't deny it. She wanted her sister to know how she feels when it comes to her casual treatment of Lord Antikythera's gifts. "You acting like you're not wearing something that even the king would kill for makes me feel irritated."

  "I'm sorry, okay?" Tsuare pouted. "I didn't know how else to react to something like this! I'm sure that these are valuable, but Lord Antikythera wouldn't have gifted us two separate pairs if he couldn't afford it!"

  And that's the problem. "You're wasting his generosity. The best you can do is be grateful about it." Ninya scowled. "Honestly, you are so—"

  "Okay, fine. I'm willing to admit that I'm wasting Lord Antikythera's generosity, but I don't know how valuable these actually are!" Tsuare waited for Ninya to reply. She flinched when her sister's arm collided against her stomach and stopped her from moving forward. "Is something wrong?"

  "Yeah." Ninya took out her staff and readied it. "Come out! I know you're all hiding around here!"

  "So you're a mage, huh?" A man emerged from behind a tree and snickered as he walked over to Ninya. "I have men with crossbows trained at the two of you, so how about we just calm down and not do anything rash?"

  Ninya waved her staff and released a bolt of lightning the moment the bandit stopped talking. She grabbed Tsuare's hand and ran away as quickly as she could as the man convulsed behind them. He was dead for good, but bandits rarely worked alone, and if what he said was true then arrows should start flying soon.

  She didn't stop even when an arrow struck the ground in front of her and Tsuare began to resist her pull by panicking. She tightened her grip on her sister's hand and gred at her. "Calm down!"

  Tsuare nodded hastily. "I'm sorry, I—"

  Ninya ran for the trees and threw her sister into the underbrush. Tsuare disappeared behind the bushes and she became alone. This is more of a good thing, seeing as her sister is closer to being a burden right now.

  Ninya breathed deeply. Lord Antikythera has taught her how to fight and ignore the pain, so she should be able to take the bandits on her own.

  Mana ran through her staff and she treated the item as an extension of her body that she could use to cast spells. The crystal at its tip started glowing, and an invisible current pulled on the ambient mana around her. The energy coalesced into a thick cloud that turned into a ram half her height moments ter.

  Ninya solidified it even more and gave the apparition thickened skin. Muscles that boosted its strength formed on its ethereal limbs, and a heavy-set skull grew below its transparent head, connecting with both its horns before then becoming part of the body.

  Ninya released the spell and gave the sheep existence. It bleated, then went still. It's not alive. Nothing she's made has ever been alive, and she was starting to think that it's not even possible—Ninya spped her cheeks and broke herself out of the panic spiral.

  "Move forward and attack anyone you find." She ordered the apparition. There shouldn't be anyone else here so she's not at the risk of accidentally attacking somebody with the sheep.

  Screams echoed out just as Ninya finished creating a second sheep, and together, they ran towards the source. Eight bandits, all of them were armed with knives, shields, and wore leather armor. One also had a crossbow, but it was unloaded as of right now, so the bandit who had it was vulnerable.

  "Attack the guy with the crossbow!" Ninya ordered her extra sheep and readied her staff. She supported her first apparition with lightning bolts that struck the bandits and boosted the apparition.

  "Fuck! Some girl my ass!" one of the men yelled as he ran for Ninya. He was slow, and Ninya was faster. "I'll gut you like a fish and have fun with your body while you're bleeding—"

  A gunshot resonated from Ninya's right. No one got hit, but the bandit got distracted. Ninya waved her staff once more and struck the man with a lightning bolt. He began to shake and shudder before falling down. He never moved again after his body met the ground.

  One by one, the bandits began to fall until only Ninya was standing. A single sheep was lost during the fight while the other was fed into her staff, handguns, and her gas mask. Ninya sighed in relief as Tsuare came out of the forest with a speed that she never showed before this.

  Ninya fell to the ground as her crying sister tackled her. She patted Tsuare's back. As she did, she only had one thought in her mind; this is gonna keep happening, isn't it?