After Vanessa changed into her public attire she walked outside where Arata was waiting,"So kiddo,where are you walking to?",Vanessa asked with curiosity and a hint of expectation towards the gorgeous black haired youth sporting deep crimson glasses and a red fedora on his head,"I'm walking about half a kilometer up the stream towards the waterfall,I made a secret area under the waterfall using my jackals to make a cavern which I use for a quiet place for myself to avoid my masters fists when I need a break", and with that reply we started walking towards the waterfall that looked like a torrent coming down," uh Arata sweetie,how are we supposed to get in?",Arata upon hearing a valid question replied with a small smile,"the way to open the path through the waterfall is you need to inject mana into that cliff face and make the mana form this runic symbol of my own design.", at which he placed his hand at the indent,and using his mana to form an eye with a teardrop forming under the eye.
*rumble* upon the activation the waterfall face jutted out two stone slabs that separated the waters showing stairs,' can such a child make this?!' Vanessa thought while shocked at the ingenuity Arata showed in his making and understanding of mana and its application,'I must keep this child away from the witch queen at all costs' Vanessa silently vowed while glancing at an unknowing Arata.
Arata while holding the hand of a blushing Vanessa walked down the stairs and at the bottom showed a sight to behold,in the cavern stood a bed made of wood and various furs of mana beasts and even a bookshelf housing notebooks showing theories about magic and magic control written by Arata himself("they are enchanted to never leave the grounds as to keep it secret from invading forces."Arata explained), and near the bookshelf was a door to a garden full of various medicinal herbs.
'Ok now I definitely can't have the witch queen take you!!' Vanessa thought to herself as Arata turned towards the witch ,"well it's getting late,let's head to bed before the others notice",Arata stayed with a gentle smile.
And like that they went to bed.
-the next day-
Arata was enjoying the sunrise when he heard a very familiar voice,"we're here!" An excited mimosa shouted at the figure of Arata who was followed by Nebra,Noelle,Leopold,Nozelle,Fuegoleon and a couple squad members from his squad,and an unknown group which consisted of a nun and a bunch of orphans. An eyebrow raised he turn to Fuegoleon,who caught Arata's look and promptly introduced the group,"Arata this is my former teacher sister Theresa,she runs an orphanage in cairn village,considering it was nearing her anniversary of when she retired as a magic knight I invited her and the kids to enjoy our time at the cabin for the time we stay.",glancing at the kids who were staring at him in awe,one child in particular caught his eye,a small child with light brown hair and purple eyes who was especially staring at Arata.
Walking up to the child,Arata gives her a gentle smile,"hello there,I noticed you were staring at me a lot harder than the others,what might your name be?", the girl taken aback by how obvious she made herself to Arata,after some hesitation she replied with her name,"… Marie.","Marie huh? Truly a pretty name,well Marie and company I hope you enjoy your time at my cabin!" To which the children shouted with delight in their eyes,Theresa looked at the child before walking over and thanking the young man for letting them stay for her vacation.
"Oh Noelle would you please follow me,Nozelle and Fuegoleon as well,im going to show you my isolated training area", to which Noelle and the two captains followed suit,as well as nebra who was also curious,and after getting permission from Arata followed.
After showing how to open the secret area they all went down the stairs and into the training area,at which Arata pointed them all to the bookshelf," so Noelle all these books are theories and notes I've writtenabput magic and magic control itself,the red bound books are about mana application and the blue ones are about mana control ,and the green book holds recipes for potions that can help hasten the recovery of mana,with a mortar and pestle on top the bookshelf to help make and administer the paste,use this time well Noelle to try and learn how to utilize your power I believe in you."
Noelle was shocked at the cavern itself,and upon hearing Arata saying she can use his secret room she couldn't help but feel happy albeit flustered,nebra looking at her sister gently smiled at Arata who willingly showed her this room.
"Well with that out of the way let's all get changed into our swim suits and enjoy the water!!", at which they left the area looking forward to the days ahead.
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Explanation: for those wondering how Arata is doing concepts like enchanting and doing so many things that should be impossible for kids his (now) age is, he does at the age of 29,so he is basically 42 mentally,so he can think of things that would be considered genius.