Magic and a Barrier!

With Eric and the Magic masters off, and only a few elves left in MeadowSong in their underground healing center, Sora felt the urge to learn Magic. 

"Jax, can you please teach Mina and I some water magic?" Sora asked. 

"Certainly, let's head up and we can start with the basics."

Jax demonstrated five spells in total, one of which was cleanse, which he used to clean up the blood and remaining aftermath inside the walls after the bodies were burned.

"Cleanse also heals allies of any poison, and rids whatever it touches of toxins, bacteria, etc." 

"That's great, can you please demonstrate the other skills, one by one, so we can understand each one?" the twins asked. 

"Certainly. This spell is called Aqua Gun. It shoots out water projectiles very quickly. They're very condensed and if your magic power is strong enough, it can blast through skin, and if you're like me, through walls." 

After demonstrating the three more spells, the twins received a system notification. 

"Ding! A water skill tab under Elven Magic [uncommon] is now available. 

Current skills: 

Cleanse - Cleanse the Earth or allies of all impurities, including poison. 

Aqua Gun - Shoot projectile water bullets at opponents. 

Water Wall - Raise a giant wall of water to block incoming attacks. 

Serpent blade - Unleash powerful slashes of waves to cause damage to opponents. 

Bubble - Casts a temporary oxygen mask around the user's mouth to allow them to breathe underwater. 

After trying some of the spells, Sora learned to use his sword with the water magic infused, with the help of Jax. 

As they practiced, an unexpected visitor arrived. It was Aidan Hammond, one of the younger council members and he carried a bow with him. 

"Mina, the King and Queen apologize for how long it took to forge, but here is the bow they've forged for you," Aidan said with a smile. 

"Ding! An elven bow created using the holy magic of the Fang family has been gifted to user: Mina Hart. This bow holds the ability to infuse arrows with magic. Compatible with endless quiver."

"You rode all this way to give me this? Thank you so much," Mina said with a polite bow. 

"My pleasure. The King also wishes me to pass on one more request. Plant the Barrier of Justice, just after midnight tonight. He wants to maximize the time usage and the humans could arrive tomorrow."

"I will let everyone know and Sora and I will place it ourselves, thank you Aidan!" 

Mina marveled at the perfection of the bow. Perfectly balanced, a strong pull string and a perfectly molded grip for her hand to hold it. It was green with golden embroidery, with a white Fang Family symbol on it. 

Mina took a few practice shots and eventually started envisioning the Aqua gun into an arrow, and to her surprise, the arrow shot out more quickly than her regular arrows and crushed the target, leaving it broken and soaking wet. 

"WOW! That was amazing sis. I struggled controlling my blade at first but you're already mastering it." 

"Very impressive Mina, as always," Jax said. 

<><><><>

Eric and the magical masters returned and explained all the traps they laid out. 

They set up hole traps, but included wooden spears at the bottom. They also sealed off most of the underground tunnels, but left an area open. When the last human passed through that area, a magic master, hidden in a wall with a grass door top, with a hole in it to breathe, would collapse the cavern, burning the humans alive. 

They also built 'supply sheds,' which were empty sheds or sheds with a sword, a shield, a canteen of water. When one's that were empty opened, they exploded. The first five sheds held useable items to entice the humans. They built around 50 of the sheds around the area. 

Pleased with their work, Xavier and Stefania ordered everyone to rest up, with the exception of Sora and Mina. 

Once the four were alone, Xavier asked, "Do you know how to set this Barrier of Justice up?" 

"We weren't given a detailed breakdown or instructions, but I have a feeling we will know," Mina said with a smile. 

Midnight struck, and Sora picked up the backpack with one of the barriers in it. He and Mina went to the center of the Kingdom, hoping they would be able to figure it out. 

Stefania and Xavier stood around 20 feet away, waiting to see a new magic. 

"Ready sis?" 

"Ready, let's both pick it up and place it down."

"Ding! Would you like to activate the barrier of Justice? Two replies needed. Yes/No."

Mina's green highlight and Sora's blue highlight both hovered on yes, and a check mark appeared. 

"Ding! Please select who is an ally. Human/Elf."

Both of their stomachs dropped. They currently lived as elves but could shapeshift into their human forms. They gave each other a resilient nod and selected Elf. 

"Ding! Elf added as allies. Would you like to set enemies as humans of the Empire?" 

Relieved to see this option, they both selected yes. 

"Ding! Allies and enemies are set. Would you like boulders, arrows, or any projectiles to disintegrate or repel back at the enemy?" 

"Xavier, do we want to repel their projectiles or disintegrate them?" The twins yelled. 

"Repel." Xavier shouted back. 

"Ding! All projectile attacks will bounce off the invisible barrier and impact the location the projectile was shot from. 

Please select your boundaries for the Barrier."

Amazed, Sora and Mina saw a map of the entire country. They tried to expand it to other nations, but received error messages. With pinpoint accuracy, they selected 50 yards away from the Kingdom in all directions. 

They also selected 1 mile beneath the ground and five miles in the air, both with the same 50 yard perimeter distance.

"Ding! Coordinates set. Would you like to activate the barrier of Justice? Yes/No" 

The twins quickly selected yes. 

"Ding! The Barrier of Justice is armed and set. Time remaining: 90 days." 

The original device exploded, shooting magic into the night sky. Xavier and Stefania watched in awe as the magic stayed visible until it reached its coordinate, then disappeared.

"We should see Themis soon and thank her for this gift. So which one of you is going to test this thing out and walk out of the barrier?" Xavier asked. 

"We'll do it. It walked us through the setup, giving us choices while showing a detailed map of the country. It was strange. If Themis wanted, she could give one to the humans. It asked if we wanted humans or elves as allies and vice versa." Mina said. 

"Hopefully another relic does not exist that we do not know about," Stefania said.

"Agreed. But she only seeks balance, one of these for the empire would surely sway the balance toward humanity," Xavier said calmly.

The twins took a deep breath, held each other's hands and walked outside the front gate. Despite their fear, they managed to walk well outside the area outside the castle and right back into the Kingdom. 

"Xavier, I guess that means we return home?" Sora asked. 

"Not quite, we need to rebuild the city that once flourished in this great Kingdom. The humans destroyed all the homes and lived only in the castle. That's why it's so… empty."

"Let's rest, tomorrow we will teach you the spell I used to repair the Kingdom's walls," Stefania said with a smile. 

The four exited down the dirt slope, which stayed open until everyone was inside for nightfall. As the last four in, Xavier closed the Earth and they went to their sleeping quarters. 

To Sora's delight and surprise, Stefania laid in bed with him again. 

Mina laughed and Xavier rolled his eyes. 

"Good night love birds," Mina said. 

"Mina, you could always cuddle Xavier if you wanted to," Stefania teased back. 

"No," Mina and Xavier responded at the same time. 

The four shared a laugh, then drifted off to sleep.