an unfortunate accident

Located inside the main headquarters of the guild, Thran sat at a rather large table. To most of the workers of the guild, it is the main meeting room for the officials to discuss important matters. Banners hung off the walls, the designs on them were intricate, ranging from a sword and shield, to a quill. Directly under the quill, Thran looked through the documents he brought. 

His normal composed demeanor completely disappeared, replacing that he looked rather nervous as he kept moving his hair away from his face and he tapped on the table repeatedly. Although he worked at the guild for nearly 30 years, he only ever met the higher ups once or twice, mostly due to his work ethic back then.

His attention was brought to the sounds of the doorknobs turning. Quickly fixing the tie of his suit, he stood up with his hands stuck to his side. Moments after, four individuals walked in. A middle aged woman, whose black hair was tied into a ponytail was the first to enter. Thran recognized her as the guildmaster. 

The adventurer's guild is a neutral power in the world, there was a guild located in every major, or minor kingdom. Each differing building of the guild had a separate guildmaster. They held the second highest authority in the entire guild, reporting only under the head guildmaster. Their position required them to handle the internal strifes, and affairs internally and externally.

"Good afternoon, Miss!" Thran exclaimed as she walked by him, giving her a complete ninety degree bow. "I hope you're doing well today!" 

She didn't respond till she walked towards her seat, directly under the banner that had the design of a sword. "Thank you Thran, please have a seat." She asked him 

"You're welcome, and thank you." Thran straightened his back before sitting down again.

The three other individuals sat at their respective seats. An elven woman, who wore a white dress took her spot under the banner of a staff. Every receptionist knew her as the head receptionist, or rather their superior. A rather large, but muscular man wearing a tanktop sat directly next to her. Not much was known to Thran about him, but him being there marked him as important. 

"Not going to say anything to us? Man, what are we? Not important?" The last individual, a demi-human man with dog-like ears, quipped. His tone left a joking impression, but his face said otherwise. He set a book down on the table, inside it held the name of every employee in the guild. Thran knew him all too well, he was the head of internal affairs. 

"Don't mind him, he still has things to work through." The elven woman responded 

"Oh, that's correct, my bad." 

"Leave him be, that's not important today." The guildmaster said she waved her hand when Thran attempted to stand back up. "To the topic today, Thran, why have you submitted a form to fine two adventurers?" She inquired after he sat back down. "You've been with us for 29 years, this is the first fine you attempted to give out."

Thran cleared his throat before explaining himself. "One of the adventurers under my wing was abused by a temporary party member. I have her papers here, and her party member's here." He pulled out a sheet with Fei's information on, and Lucian's next. "They teamed up with a different party, the two were named Alex and Tim."

"A demi-human, that is rather tough for one to be an adventurer. Paired with a human, a common pair." The head receptionist mumbled after scanning the information. 

"That last name, I feel like I've heard it before." 

"Oh, you have?"

"Yes, but I can't remember where I heard it." The demi-human man squinted at Fei's information for a moment before passing it off to the guildmaster. "Oh this boy, I've heard a lot about him just from the guards of this kingdom. It's rather shocking that he's still around her."

"What do you mean?"

"This boy has been reported to be living with her for 6 years, he has gotten into fights with many for bullying her verbally." The large man explained while poking at Lucian's paper. "It's an odd sight." 

Their talks ended as the guildmaster took in the information, moments later she sat each paper down in front of her.

"As you already assume, that's a serious issue if it happened. Do you have any physical proof that it occurred? We don't take half truth reports, Thran."

"Y-Yes, I have pictures, this one is on her shoulder. And this is on her arm. Lucian also gave his recount on what happened." He slid two medium-sized slips to them, the first was a picture of Fei's shoulder that had purple marks in the shape of a hand. The other was a picture of her forearm, with a massive welt as if someone grabbed her with immense strength. 

The guildmaster looked at it with a frown, her eyebrows furrowed as if she was thinking. 

"Ah, right, Lucian mentioned after he killed his last attacking goblin, he heard shouting and looked back at them. He saw Tim shove Fei to the ground before casting a golden wall to protect them from arrows being shot at them. Although I have-"

"He must have moved her to protect her, or his spell must have needed the area in front to be cleared." 

"No spell in history has that condition, or as far as our information has dated." 

"Your intelligence department isn't all knowing, it might be true that he needed the space to be cleared." 

"What Evan is saying is true, that wall didn't need to have a clear area." 

Again, silence washed over them as they stared at the pictures in silence. 

"What about Fei, did she give a recount on it? And what about Alex and Tim?"

"Yes, err.. Sort of from Fei, she was hard to talk to. Tim only gave his, he said it was to protect her from the arrows. That is all that he said. But, I don't understand why he would need to use excessive force."

"We demi-humans are far more fragile than you think, Thran. While I do believe that he might've pushed her to protect her, I find his amount of force to be concerning."

"Agreed, we also can't take his words as truth. There isn't any evidence of him needing to shove her, that would only waste time in a fight. Little Noelle, what do you say? And Evan what about you? Indulge us."

"His words are false, I believe. In the database, those two never got along with others; every temporary member they had, left with some form of injury even in the simplest requests." 

"I see, that certainly changes things, doesn't it?" The head receptionist said, she leaned forward with her chin in her palm. "What is the verdict?" Her eyes turned to Noelle

Thran's shoulders slumped upon hearing her verdict, a mixture of emotions wisped away from his body. That wasn't for long, as a voice caused his body to stiffen up.

"Make sure to write your report on this, okay?" 

"Yes…"

—---------------

"Fei, is everything okay in there?" Lucian asked as he knocked on their bedroom door. He got no response even after waiting for a few minutes. 'She's been so quiet ever since…' After a moment, he opened the door. "What's wrong?" 

Fei who was in her nightgown still sat on their bed, her shoulders slumped. She didn't acknowledge Lucian's words, nor did she raise her head when he walked in. The two words of the men they teamed up with ran inside her head. 

'They're right… I am so useless, I'm not worthy to be in a party with Lucian… I can't do anything right.' 

She clenched her hands, she believed every insult they threw at her. Every jab felt like a needle piercing her heart. Her vision started to blur as tears formed in her eyes.

"Fei, talk to me, please." Lucian sat next to her and quietly pleaded to her. "You've been so quiet, I'm worried about you." His body shivered as the air around them got colder. "If it was those guys from the other day, ignore what they said; they were trying to make you feel bad."

"I-It's t-true… I-I'm useless… I, I didn't do anything…"

"You aren't useless. I would've gotten hurt even worse if you didn't stop that one goblin."

Lucian moved his arm forward, showing the cut on his forearm. While it looked pretty bad at first, it healed nicely as scabs formed over the broken tissue. 

"See? If you weren't there I could be in a worse condition. Don't call yourself useless when you did help out." He said, smiling despite Fei not looking at him. "Heck, you shouldn't be hard on yourself when you just learned how to use your staff." 

"Y-Y-You still got, got hurt…" 

"They're healing, and I didn't get hurt because of you." Lucian explained, he chuckled for a moment. Fei turned her head to look at him. Warm tears still streamed down her face, Lucian fought the urge to pat her head. Last time he tried that, Fei began to have a panic attack. "Why don't we do something else today?" 

"What, what do you m-mean?" Fei questioned. She wiped her eyes, and her ears slightly perked up. 

"Let's go somewhere secluded so you can practice with your staff." Lucian suggested, he stuck his pointer finger up. "Then, next time you won't have to worry about jerks trying to bring you down." 

"A-A-Are you sure you, you want to do that…?" 

Fei furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly. 

'Would he be okay?' Fei thought as her heart felt a little ache. Lucian didn't answer verbally, he simply nodded his head. 

After talking a bit longer, Fei started to return to her normal self. Lucian left the room so she could get dressed for the day. They met up again, outside their house like usual.

Before leaving for their destination, they stopped at Aiko's workplace to grab breakfast. Like last time, she served them a whole helping of eggs. Lucian barely ate his as, somehow Aiko in her excitement managed to burn them; however Fei ate more than last time, but stopped after Lucian told her to.

"T-Thank you for the meal, Aiko." Lucian thanked her with a stiff smile. 'I can still taste the burnt egg.' The flavor of burned eggs clung to his entire mouth. Aiko frowned upon hearing his thanks, her tail swiped back and forth.

"I'll do better next time! You won't have burned food I promise!" She exclaimed, her intense tone made Lucian and Fei take a step backwards. 

"W-We know, but thank you." 

"Mhm! Now, come here!" She lunged at them and pulled them into a ginormous hug. "Have a safe journey today, don't you dare get hurt again." She mumbled into both their ears. 

"Don't worry we won't." Lucian returned her hug with his free arm. 

"Good! Now, shoo, shoo go!" 

With her insistence they left the premises, Lucian waved back at her when they got further away. Fei simply raised her hand before they lost sight of her.

For the next half hour, they ventured forth from the walls and made it to a grassy field.

"This looks to be a good spot." Lucian said after they made a distance from the dirt road. Once they knew they were a safe distance away from people watching them, Lucian took a few steps away from Fei. 

Fei turned to Lucian, giving her a nod of reassurance she began to funnel mana into her staff. Whilst it was quicker than her first attempt, it was still impractical in a combat situation. Once it reached the crystal on top, Fei looked at a random spot.

A cold air swept the area around them, and a singular chain slowly rose from the spot. It took nearly a minute for it to reach its desired length. Its final height reached thirty centimeters, while its diameter was less than half of that.

"Wow, that's not bad." Lucian remarked. Although he would admit it was pretty slow, he refrained from making any comments about it. "What? It isn't." 

"O-Okay.." Fei muttered before turning her focus back to the staff. Refunneling her mana into the staff, this time she felt the mana react to her commands slightly more. Once again, she cast another ice chain. Twenty-nine centimeters was its length, with its width more than half its length. 

'It's really slow…' Fei thought. The chain started to crack when she lightly poked it. 'It's so weak… He'll only get hurt even more if I don't work with this…' She stood up once again. 

Lucian watched as she created more chains out of the ground. the amount at a time multiplied as Fei began to exhibit more control over her mana. For her first time, it took a few minutes before she could cast her first spell with it. 

With a suggestion from him, Fei began to create different shapes. Starting with a wall, the procedure took much more. Pouring a large amount of her mana into the crystal, it started to form frost. Like a snail, a cube of ice began to rise, fully forming into a massive wall- at least for fei as it matched her height, only her ears were visible over it. 

Over the course of an hour, the area around them turned into a muddy pit, with only a few melted walls standing. From an outsider's perspective it looked like a poorly made replica of the stonehenge. 

"Good work, why don't we take a little break?" Lucian called out to her, he made some distance before she made her replica. He sat in a dried area not far from her. Even from his view, she was panting and her body was hunched over slightly. "You don't need to exert yourself so much." 

"I-I'll be, be, okay."

"You obviously won't be okay." Lucian said in a stern voice. "Please, Fei-" Just as he began to walk towards her, she raised her staff in the air. His pace increased when he felt like something would happen. 

'I have to..' Fei's thoughts were cut short when a terrible pain pulsated from her heart. It was so great her staff tumbled from her hands. She clutched at her chest. 

"FEI!" 

He bolted towards her. Catching her just before she toppled over. 

"Fei?! Are you okay?! What's wrong?!" Lucian exclaimed. Fei kept gasping for air as she clutched heart tightly. Her body shook violently with every labored gasp, as if she was a fish out of water. "FEI! FEI! WHAT'S WRONG?!" 

Her gasping stopped suddenly, followed by her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

"Fei?! No no no no no, please wake up! Fei?! Please, please please, wake up!" Lucian shook her violently. Seeing her eyes staying snapped shut. "Please…. No, what happened?!" His voice broke. He held his breath while clutching her tightly. "Please… please be okay, please, please…" He muttered constantly, somehow he mustered the strength to get up. With her laying limp in his arms, he ran back to the city.

No one batted an eye when he sprinted through the gates, nor inside the city. Weaving through the slightly busy streets, he managed to get to Aiko's tavern.

"Aiko… please, fei, i- i don't know w- Please…" Lucian yelled in a blubbering mess when he rushed through the door. Aiko and the middle aged lady stared in utter confusion the instant they heard him. That switched instantly when they noticed Fei in his arms.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Aiko yelled as she instantly closed the distance between them. She lowered her head near Fei's mouth. "Lucian, what happened, tell me!" 

"Aiko… I- She- and- then…" 

"Lucian, bring her to the second floor. Aiko go get a medic, pronto." The middle aged lady commanded. 

Following her orders without second, Lucian rushed up the stairs, with her in heel. She showed them to an empty room and helped him set Fei in a bed. Then, she had him reluctantly sit in a nearby chair.

"She'll be alright, don't freak out too much." She reassured him in a gentle tone. "See? She's breathing. Take a deep breath, and let it out." 

"I-I'm okay…I'm okay…" Lucian managed to let out, his heartbeat still raced a mile a minute and his entire body trembled. 

"Good, good." She said, a gentle smile formed on her face. "What happened, what caused this?" 

"I-I took her out to practice with her staff… After… a bit… she just…" Lucian smothered his face with his hands. "Just… I told her to take a break, she… suddenly stopped and- collapsed."

"Collapsed?" 

"I- I don't know. She just did." 

She took the time to calm him down. As he began to calm down, Aiko rushed inside the room with a man behind her. They directed him to check on Fei.

He checked her pulse, albeit with a little trouble, then checked her breathing.

"Her heartbeat seems to be a little slow, and her breathing sounds labored." He explained to everyone. "Can anyone tell me what happened? I might be able to help clear up what's happening."

"I, I took her out to practice with the staff we bought recently… After a while… I told her to take a break- I don't know what happened but she suddenly collapsed." 

"Staff and suddenly collapsing, huh." He looked back at Fei then turned back to them. "I don't know the exact reason, this is the first time I heard about this. But it sounds like mana fatigue, every individual who uses magic can experience it if they use their mana for extended periods of time."

"Mana fatigue?" 

"Yes, I don't have much experience in it. But, that's what I think happened." Seeing the confusion and concern on their faces he elaborated, "Normally, mana fatigue… If I recall correctly; causes the victim to feel exhausted and sluggish. That's about it, this however is different from the cases of it. Did she show any other signs than fainting?"

"Y-Yes… She was struggling to breathe, and clutching her chest…" 

Hearing that, the medic looked down and put his finger on his chin. A short time later, he shrugged his shoulders and sighed. 

"I can't tell you, but she'll be okay. Just keep an eye on her."

"Thank you sir, I'll give you your payment downstairs." 

"Don't mention it." 

The middle aged lady and him left downstairs, leaving Aiko and Lucian alone with the unconscious Fei.

"Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Yes…" Aiko quietly answered his question. "She's not as fragile as you think she is." She looked at him with a small smile. 

"I'm sorry… I should've been more careful."

"Don't blame yourself for this, look at the brighter side, she'll be okay." 

"... Okay…"