Chapter 55 - Sand God Slayer Magic
Back to when Gina was sent flying through a rain of bras by Marc.
*Boom*
"Curse him, I will get back at him one day" Gina cursed Marc out loud and landed in the usual paw-shaped crater like the other soldiers. She was the person covered most in bras. Over her head, around her arms, and even one sexy bra managed to get around her… decent-sized chest.
"That's a weird getup going to war in." The camp was unnaturally silent and amidst the silence a voice said.
Turning in the direction, a man with auburn-colored hair stood with crossed arms and a stern expression on his face. Around his eyes were dark markings, and he looked to be between 30-40 years old.
(A/N: Reference is Rasa from Naruto)
Gina opened and closed her mouth, wanting to explain why she's looking like this, but it might just make it even more embarrassing. So, she decided to just take the bras off while slowly dropping something she was hiding under her white cloak, which was wrapped in bandages.
"What do you see war as? A game? Step down and I won't slay! I didn't originally want to be here." The stern-looking man reprimanded Gina.
"Sorry, I won't step down. I have been a sheltered girl my whole life until now and my goal is to see how the world really is out there. I don't intend to just look away from the bad and only look at the good things in life. Furthermore, I want to see things with my eyes and judge them. Maybe change things and improve them if I can." Gina didn't know much, so she just said what she felt after experiencing the downfall of her village.
"If that's how it is, then I won't try to change your mind. But I will just say this. You will hate what you find as the world is a very terrible place for those without power, and your dream might be cut short by me. Now that I'm part of this war, I won't let you play around." The auburn-haired man said sternly like somebody who had experienced many battles before the ground under his feet began swirling and turning into golden sand and a humanoid man made of sand formed.
Looking at the sand with a surprised expression, Gina couldn't help asking "What kind of Sand Magic is that?"
"Name's Asi and I have seen and done things I'm not proud of. To atone a little, I will give you a chance and not instantly kill you with my Sand God Slayer Magic. Show your will to live and improve. Try to survive for one hour and I will let you live. Do you accept?"
"That's Sand God Slayer Magic? How beautiful." Thought Gina and looked at the golden sand with envy.
"I'm Gina, and I accept," she said before the thing wrapped in bandages rose and levitated before her. It looked like an upper body of a human with two green spikes in its hands. This is the new prototype puppet Rofta sketched and had a blacksmith make for her.
"Then come!" Asi yelled to start the fight and Gina made her new puppet move forward and attack the sandman with its long duel spikes. The sandman didn't even bother moving, so it was skewered right through in an x in its chest.
"This little toy isn't enough," Asi said while still having his arms crossed.
Gina knew he was strong and was very surprised when the sandman lost its form and swallowed the puppet just to form again behind it and holding it in place.
"What are you going to do now that I have your toy?" Asi asked with a rough voice.
"I'm not done yet!" Yelled Gina before raising her hand and the bandaged puppet suddenly began shooting small iron needles out of its body, overwhelming and filling the sandman with holes before it crumpled. When it was destroyed the bandages around the puppet fell off, revealing a green metal body made of Adamantite.
She had a smug smile under her veil and said proudly "This 'toy' just destroyed your sandman." Gina is gratified with the gifts her friends have given her to hide her magic that she's too afraid to use. Naturally, she wants to boast about her little victory.
"Indeed, then let's take it up a level," Asi said before three sand men formed in front of him before charging at Gina and her puppet.
The fight had just begun and Gina will have to make a hard decision and overcome her fears.
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Ten minutes into the fight Gina was forced to assist her puppet against the three sandmen and the fight wasn't going in her favor. Her puppet had served dents and was newly falling to pieces. As for her scorpion tail, it was already ripped in two. Her veil had fallen off revealing her nasty scar across her face and her white rope's arm was ripped off.
She is looking at the scorpion tail and puppet with an aggrieved expression.
Asi shook his head and said with a disappointed face "Guess this is as long as you go! I thought you would have more spark with the amount of Magic Power I can feel from you" before making his three sand men deform and cover the puppet fully. Then he finally released his crossed arms to make a grabbing motion with one hand.
*Gold Coffin*
*Crush* *Baam*
"Nooo!!" Yelled Gina after seeing the puppet Rofta gave her being crushed by the sand like scrap metal.
Looking at what's left of her puppet with a lost look in her eyes and asked herself "Why can't I have things without them being taken from me? I lost my family, my childhood friends ignored me just because of just a scar, and now I lost the gifts from my new friends. Will I lose them too?"
"Huh? Why would you have so much iron inside the puppet? Forget it, I won't waste time needlessly if you are done. So, goodbye and sorry." Asi said before waving his hand to make sand rise beside him and fly in the direction of Gina, formed like a flying snake that only got bigger at the end the farther away it got from him.
When the attack reached midway between them and cast a shadow over the destroyed puppet, she recalled a thing Marc once told her.
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Flashback.
When Gina first got her scorpion tail that Marc had given his input to make and to use to protect herself while still hiding her magic.
"What do you think?" Asked Marc that was looking at Gina trying to move the iron sand inside the scorpion tail.
"It's a little hard to move as my control over the sand inside isn't that great, but I really like it!" Gina honestly said with tears in her eyes. Having a curse on her that makes her only able to use Sand Devil Slayer Magic was something she really despised and hated. Everything related to devils was strongly forbidden in Fiore and would be removed without a thought by most people who worship gods in Fiore.
Looking and the crying Gina, Marc clapped her back before holding her shoulder with a tight grip and a serious expression. "Listen here, Gina. If at some time you are in a tight situation and this gimmicky use of your Devil Slayer Magic isn't enough, just use it directly and be dammed about the consequences. Remember this quote "It's not the magic that makes you evil, but how you use it"."
Hearing that Gina dried her eyes and was about to protest "But-"
"No buts. I know what you are thinking. You are afraid to implicate Rofta and me, but here's the fact- we don't fucking care! Are we clear?" Marc asked with an unusually serious expression.
"No!" But Gina's fear of revealing her magic was deep in her bones. People that have been deemed related to devils had a similar fate to witches.
"Hah? You really dare disobey your party leader? As punishment, you will eat my cooking for the next two weeks straight and three times a day." Marc's serious expression faltered, and he faked anger before giving her a suitable punishment.
"!? Anything but that! Please!" Pleaded Gina while holding on to his arm.
"Then promise that you will use your magic freely if the situation deems so." Said Marc.
":… No" But Gina refused until the end.
"Then the punishment will increase to three weeks." Marc unreasonable said before walking away to cook some of his heavenly-looking food that despite its look, tastes like crap. In the end, he said something only a jerk would say, but it is true. "If you don't use it freely at some time, you will be left behind, either you die or literally be left behind. Do you want to leave the party?"
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Gina looked at the crushed puppet for a second before looking at the incoming golden sand attack and recited "Just use it directly and be dammed about the consequences. It's not the magic that makes you evil, but how you use it. Do you want to leave the party…?"
"NO!!" Gina screamed and waved her hand and used her Sand Devil Slayer Magic. Iron sand began flowing out of her already broken scorpion tail and pulled iron minerals out from the ground and made all the iron sand around her fly forward in the same way Asi did. Like a snake that wants to swallow you.
"!? This…is Sand Devil Slaying Magic?" Asi was shocked by the sudden use of sand magic.
*Boom*
The two attacks collided with each other in the middle before scattering, making the place they are fighting, the ground covered by black and gold sand equally.
This was the biggest attack Gina could muster up.
Like a butterfly who had come out of her cocoon, Gina used her magic to quickly form eight long iron nails that didn't use much Magic Power but is very fast. She waved her hand again and sent them flying at Asi.
*Iron Sand Nails*
But as a well-experienced mage, he countered them by making some sand flow around him before sending 14 gold balls at the eight iron nails. The rest was shot at Gina who stopped them by making iron sand flow in front of her.
"You are like a different person now. Before your Magic Power felt timid and afraid. Now it radiates desire and great resolve. But to think you actually possess Sand Devil Slayer Magic. That's a surprise." Asi said and began pondering about something, but stopped when he heard Gina ask.
"Do you want to kill me more now? Do you think I'm evil?"
Blinking a few times while looking at her, Asi couldn't help laughing. "Ahahaha, so that's why you want to see the world? You want to know if all countries are like Fiore and deem Devil Slayer Magic as something 'evil'?"
"So what if I do? You wouldn't understand how it's like living in fear with a curse that makes me unable to learn other magic and have magic that can get me and my friends killed!" Screamed Gina with lots of angry emotions.
"Ahahaha, of course not, but I can relate to it. Let me ask you something. Do you think people with God Slaying Magic don't have any similar troubles and lives without fear?"
Frowning and thinking the answer is obvious, she said "Of course. People with God Slayer Magic are called the gods chosen ones. So, naturally, they aren't condemned like people with Devil Slayer Magic!"
"You are too naive. Sure, we aren't openly condemned and killed like Devil Slayers, but we are hunted in the shadows because we pose great threats against other countries. The greatest fear for a God Slayer is to get stabbed by people who you thought were your friends." Explained Asi.
"I don't understand? Why would they do that?" Asked Gina naively for clarification.
"Because they fear our Slayer Magic. Currently, there are four types of Slayer Magic known if we include those from old records. God--, Devil--, Spirit--, and Phoenix Slayer Magic are rumored or do exist. The countries all view them differently. But do you know what all countries have in common?" Asked Asi, and Gina shook her head in response.
He continued to explain "They all kill the mages they can't recruit out of fear that they will join an enemy country. Take Fiore for example. They worship gods and welcome God Slayers. But as gods and devils hate each other, they can't be in the same country, thus why Fiore condemns Devil Slayers and executes them on the spot if found. Enough lecturing, you still have 40 minutes left before I will let you go. But as you have Sand Devil Slaying Magic I will do you a favor and just use normal Sand Magic, so you will be able to consume it."
"Consume? Like eating?" Gina had never heard of eating magic before and actually found it disgusting thinking she will eat sand.
"You really don't know anything, sheltered girl… Listen I will explain it before we continue.
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After explaining how Slayers can consume external sources of their element to replenish their strength and has a certain amount of immunity to it, they finally continued the fight.
But before starting again, Asi turned his gold sand into just normal colored sand with a hidden intention in mind. "She's very rough around the edges and has great talent with fairly good control over a smaller amount of sand that she showed by controlling the puppet and that tail on her back. The Devil that cursed her had great insight. Should I?"
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(A/N: It's not a mistake that I didn't include Dragon Slayer Magic in Asi's explanation earlier, as you probably know it will be invented later by Irene Belserion.)
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