Green Turtle Duchy, Seashine Beach
Ronan dug his toes into the wet sand, the strong wind from the ocean made him close his eyes in a restful manner. He could hear the water churn, the nerves in his legs tingled in anticipation until the cold salty water bathed them. The water lingered for a few moments before returning, but its sensation still lingered on the hairs on his legs.
Ronan opened his eyes and sighed in contentment; from the moment he came to the beach he felt his worries being swept away by the wind. He looked at Conrad who was watching Duma worriedly, she was trying to teach herself how to swim.
Ronan chuckled and walked towards him, ''Don't worry, she'll be fine.''
Conrad stared at him, ''Are you sure? You realize none of us can swim right? Neither do we have powers that can grab her from a distance, unless you're willing to bring out Mamba. I don't know why she's doing this, there are trainers who give swimming lessons in the city…'' he mumbled.
Ronan thought for a minute and realized there were some truths in Conrad's words, if something happened to Duma they wouldn't be able to save her without exposing themselves. They came to the Green Turtle Duchy to spread rumors, not be what the rumors were about.
''Duma, umm, maybe you should leave the water now.'' Ronan called out to her.
''Why?' She whined, ''I'm just – '' she slipped on something and disappeared under the water, a few seconds passed before she resurfaced, coughing up water, '' – having fun…''
Conrad couldn't stay still anymore, ''Duma, come here now!'' he yelled.
Duma sulkily walked towards them, her clothes were soaked and sticking to her body, ''Why are you being such a downer? Today is our day off and I was having fun.''
''Do we even have days off?'' Conrad rolled his eyes, ''and I'd agree you were having fun if you weren't shaking like a leaf.''
''I was having fun before you made me come out of the water.'' Duma huffed.
''You almost drowned!''
Duma didn't reply, she closed her eyes and knitted her brows in concentration, a few seconds later tiny lightning bolts buzzed around her whole body, steaming her clothes and drying her wet skin.
''Whoa, I didn't know you could use lightning like that.'' Ronan said.
Duma smiled smugly, ''Of course you didn't, not everyone can think like me. You know, I'm actually a genius…''
''She figured out lightning could generate heat when she accidentally set a tree on fire,'' Conrad interjected, ''almost starting a forest fire in the process.''
''No one would think you're mute if you don't speak!'' Duma glared at him.
Ronan chuckled at their exchange, ''Okay, okay, stop fighting. We still have work to do.''
''No, this is our day off!'' Duma shook her head.
''I'll say it again, we don't have days off,'' Conrad said, ''but we do choose when we want to continue the mission, so let's rest today.'' He raised an eyebrow, ''And we don't have to do it together too.''
''I know, I know,'' Ronan raised his palm up, ''I don't want to do anything today either, I was really just trying not to look incompetent or lazy.''
Conrad snorted, ''What would you call her then?'' He jutted his chin at Duma who just glared at him.
''Okay,'' Ronan clapped his hands, ''what should we do now?''
''Oh, I want to try the local delicacies?'' Duma eyes shone.
''You mean what we eat every day?''
''You know what Conrad…?''
…
Duma yawned as she walked through one of the markets in the Green Turtle main city, her teammates had agreed to give them two more days off if she bought their food in the market. Despite it being a somewhat easy task, she hated coming to the market, the smell of fresh fish and other sea creatures was nauseating. She had bought crabs and vegetables, also most of the ingredients, what remained were some mackerels.
Duma scrunched her face and periodically held her breath anytime she went near a stall to see their goods, some of the creatures looked so horrendous, she wondered how people there could stomach them.
As she was searching, she felt a tingle in her brain, and after being a Follower for so long she immediately knew what it was. Just like [Inspection], [Sense] allows followers to sense each other when they were near, there was a Follower near Duma, and she was sure they could feel her too.
She followed her senses to a small stall with three buckets filled with live fishes beside it, a young lady was standing in front of a table stained with blood and fish scales and different types of knives. The lady was staring at her intently, kind of like the same way Duma was staring at her. Duma squared her shoulders and walked directly towards her.
Even though what she did seemed impulsive Duma actually had her guard on, after all just because they followed the same god didn't mean she would be a good person. She was ready to blast her with a bolt of lightning at any given moment.
''Hello.'' Duma greeted first. The lady nodded back, still looking at her quizzically. Duma smiled and nodded her head, ''You must be a new Follower if you're so confused, you wouldn't have used [Inspection] and you're probably not used to [Sense]…''
''What?'' the lady finally spoke.
Duma smiled wider, ''My name is Duma, I am also a Follower of the God of Origins,'' the lady's eyes widened as Duma said that, ''and since you follow the God of Origins you would have definitely been given basic information about what you can do. You know what [Sense] is right?''
The young lady nodded, ''Yes, but I've never used it.'' She said slowly.
''Well [Sense] automatically gives us a tingle when we're near other Followers, but we can activate it ourselves. Try it out and see for yourself.''
The young lady nodded, focused a bit, then her eyes widened in wonder. A few seconds later she cringed and shook her head. Duma could basically understand what she went through, when she used [Sense] her perception would change and expand, then she would have been bombarded by the ultra-sensation of the packed market.
''How was it?'' Duma asked.
''It was… Intense.'' The young lady said. ''I could see something buzzing all around us, it was dizzying when I focused on it.''
Duma thought for a second before realizing what she was talking about, ''Oh, that is Magical Energy. It's all around us, and some people can even gather it to attack other or defend themselves, or they could use it to do weird things.''
The young lady stared at her for a moment, ''I could see that you are gathering Magical Energy around you.''
Duma smiled, ''And I can see that you're doing the same thing.''
They stared at each other of a few seconds before chuckling.
''Its normal to do that isn't it?'' Duma said, ''After all, we are strangers to each other.''
''Then let's be properly acquainted,'' the young lady stretched her hand forward, ''my name is Antonia.''
''Hello Antonia,'' Duma laughed, ''I'd shake your hands but, fish blood.''
''Oh, right.'' Antonia chuckled.
''By the way, what's your element?''
Antonia tilted her head, ''I don't have elemental magic, my magic is Dream Magic.''
''You're a Dream Mage?" Duma was astonished, ''I've never met a Dream Mage, wow!''
''Really, are we that rare?'' Antonia smiled sheepishly, Duma's excitement was making her feel embarrassed, ''What's your element?''
''Lightning Mage, but forget about that,'' Duma waved her hands, ''there just isn't any Dream Mage in the Overlord's City, so I'm a bit surprised.''
''Overlord's City? Where is that?'' Antonia asked.
''Well, the God of Origin's gave his Followers an entire city to live in. If you check the map, you'll see a red line that shows you the way to the city from wherever you are, it disappears after you've reached there though…''
''W-what? A whole city?'' Antonia felt like her hearing was malfunctioning, ''Are you serious? Where is it?''
''It's in the Forsaken Lands.''
Antonia was shocked, ''The Forsaken Land? You live in that dangerous place?''
''It actually isn't that dangerous, it's just like everywhere else,'' Duma shrugged, ''I've lived there since I was young, and there is really no difference between there and everywhere else.''
Antonia stared at her with her mouth agape, she had been hearing bad things about the Forsaken Lands since forever, everyone had different rumors about it, she herself thought it was a place filled with dangerous monstrosities and was uninhabitable for humans. Meeting someone who claimed to have been living there since she was born completely rended her entire previous thoughts.
''By the way, I came to the market to buy some fish and you seem to have the exact fish I want. How much is it?'' Duma's words broke her out of her thoughts, she looked at the fish Duma was pointing at, ''Oh, five copper coins.''
Duma paid her and waited for her to cut and pack the fishes, ''Thank you. It was really nice meeting you by the way, y'know, I'm actually here with some friends, we should all get together sometime.''
Antonia smiled, ''If I have time.''
''Alright, see you sometime later?''
Antonia watched as Duma walked away while trying to wave at her with her hands full with groceries, she waited for her to disappear from her sight before looking behind her. Standing behind her, invisible to everyone but her, was a huge suit of armor. The silver-grey full body armor was daunting, it stood still with a huge sword clasped with both hands pointing downwards. Noticing she was looking at it, it looked back at her but didn't say anything, after all it couldn't speak.
But she could understand it's silence, for it was her [Figmental Friend]. The [Figmental Friend] was a permanent skill that was given to her after she was blessed, which brings out a favorite reoccurring character from her dreams into reality. The [Figmental Friend] could turn invisible and visible at will, its attacks vary according to the magical power she supplied it. Since it appeared she had felt protected and much bolder, but she still tried her best not to glance at it when Duma was around, especially when she realized that she could use [Sense] to perceive Magical Energy.
From the response she got from her [Figmental Friend], she felt like she could trust Duma. Even though it didn't have much intelligence she still subconsciously trusted it since it was made from her dreams, and also, from the short time she used [Sense] she knew that Duma was more powerful than her. Someone that powerful and respectful couldn't be a bad person.
A customer was coming her way, she shook her head and got rid of any excessive thoughts, lest she cuts her hand with her knife.