A Spar!

"What materials are you looking for?" Gaia asks Ayashi as Verona finishes writing.

"I need Epic grade materials no matter what. Due to how close the village is to the Primal Source, the mana will **** and destroy anything with mana unless it's Epic or above. We could use normal wood and stone, but the mana in those materials was used to help keep the barrier up. The village had a barrier to prevent things like drones or satellites from seeing it. It also kept out both humans and Lyna by messing with their sense of direction." Ayashi replies.

"Where are you planning on getting those materials?" Liz asks causing me to look at her.

"I was planning on giving her what the Dryads give me. But for now, I was thinking of buying some on the L-market. With our recent Guildhall repairs and furnishing, I doubt people will care." I say and she nods.

"Wait, no offense Ayashi, but why are you helping her Eric? Also, what is the Primal Source? It sounds important from how you guys are talking about it." Liz asks and I smile. Before I can answer, Asami takes her hand.

"Here Liz, I'll share the memories Master shared with me." Asamis says and Liz nods. I see Liz go wide-eyed as she sees my memories of Ayashi and the Primal Source.

"Wow." Liz says in shock and awe. I hear Gaia chuckle while Verona nods.

"We had the same reaction Liz." Gaia says and Asami nods this time.

"So, Ayashi." Verona says after a brief moment of silence. "Did you create a School of Magic too? I know Eric did and it's powerful, so I'm curious how yours will be."

"Well yes, I did make a School of Magic. But it's not as combat-oriented like Erics Darkness School is. I called it the Mana Manipulator School. It allows you to manipulate nearby mana. You can share your senses with it and feel everything around you in a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree radius. You could use it to cast other spells, but the spells will be much weaker at about a third of their original power. Or you could use it to try and bind others. I make it so I could use it to fuel my Soul-Skill." Ayashi replies causing Verona's eye to shine brightly for a moment.

"What exactly is your Soul-Skill?" Verona asks while taking out a new notebook.

"I call it Puppet Master. It allows me to influence and control normal people to a certain degree. For example, I can't make a teacher go and rob a bank for me. But I could influence a criminal to rob it and make him think I'm the boss of his crew. Then he'd hand me the money if he succeeds. So I need to use it on different people to do certain things. Like for finding Eric, I made the police start using a special scanner I made. I told them it was a normal metal detector, which it was. But it constantly scanned the area around itself, looking for Eric's mana." Ayashi says while Verona keeps writing.

"What if you used it on the people who work at the bank? Could you have made them think you were there for transport or something? Then you could just walk in and take it." Verona asks and Ayashi nods.

"Yes, that would work. But at that point, I would just use other spells to stay hidden and sneak into the vault before storing it in a Spatial Poutch or my Pocket Dimension." Ayahsi replies and I nod to myself. That's what lets her take things out of the air. I think before Luna and Innu walk inside. They're covered in dirt and are smiling.

"Hey you two, where have you been?" I ask as they walk over.

"We were helping Ramia out with the farm. She needed to quickly harvest some ingredients now before they grew too much. I don't get why that's bad though." Luna replies before seeing Ayashi. Thankfully Asami showed both Luna and Innu my memories before, so they know who she is.

"It's nice to meet you Luna, Innu." Ayashi says and the two nod.

"You too Ayashi, are you free now?" Innu asks and Ayashi nods a little confused.

"Then let's spar!" Luna nearly shouts while pulling on her arm.

"Luna! Innu! Is that any way to treat a guest?" Asami asks in a scolding tone.

"But Kallen and Kagiyama were more than happy to spar! They even asked us first!" Luna protests back causing Asmai to sigh.

"They seem very lively." Ayashi whispers to me.

"Yeah, they are. There's never a dull moment here." I respond and she smiles before standing up.

"We can spar." Ayashi says, interrupting Asami and stunning her. Verona jumps up and runs outside. Gaia sighs before chasing after her.

"Really!?" Innu asks and she nods. We all go outside and Ayashi steps into the sparring circle. Innu and Luna walk in, after changing into their armor. Verona starts the match with a countdown. As soon as she finishes Ayashi disappears. If it weren't for me activating my Ancient Thought Acceleration beforehand, I would have missed it. Ayashi lunges for them, her legs are covered in a thick blue mist. She reaches out and I see two red ghostly swords appear. She places one against each of their throats before stopping.

"I win." Ayashi says happily, the moment she stops. Luna and Innu haven't even taken a step.

"Eric, did you really beat her?" Asami asks me.

"Yeah, it was tough though. But she underestimated me. That and she was shaken up from meeting Prisma." I reply causing her to nod.

"I didn't get to see anything." Verona says quietly while Luna and Innu go back and change, upset that they couldn't even try to attack.

"Was that too much? Back in the day, we had a rule that stated we couldn't hold back during our first spar. This way we each know of the other's strengths." Ayashi asks and I shrug.

"Maybe. They like to fight, but they don't like using magic in spars. They will, but only enhancements and the like. So next time, maybe don't use any magic." I say and she nods.

"Eric, can you spar with Ayashi next? I need more data on her." Verona asks before Gaia smacks her on her head.