Azurewind was safe...

For a brief moment.

The Black Tide had been defeated.

The Abyss Makara lay destroyed.

Yet the city was far from healed.

Districts crumbled in ruins.

Ships in the harbor were smashed to pieces.

Smoke filled the air.

Healers were looking under the ruins.

Wounded were brought to emergency camps by hunters.

The sounds of victory had gone quiet.

Now...

Only saving lives was left.

Jennie slowly re-sheathed Excalibur and Leviathan.

The pair of Divine Swords were separated once again.

The golden and sapphire lights disappeared quietly.

Snow walked next to her as a regular little wolf once more.

His fur was slightly frosted after such a huge mana expenditure.

Roxy looked at the two.

Her green eyes sparkled with admiration.

"You two really are incredible."

Jennie smiled.

"So are you."

Roxy blinked.

"... Me?"

Jennie nodded.

"Your barriers have saved hundreds of lives."

Roxy lowered her head.

"They almost failed."

"But they didn’t."

Snow said gently,

"That’s what matters."

A smile crept to Roxy’s lips.

It was tiny.

But sincere.

Suddenly...

A loud crack rang through the destroyed district.

CRRAAAAACK!

Jennie’s head jerked to the noise.

A three-storied building that was damaged in the battle was falling.

Big cracks appeared on its walls.

People around started screaming.

"It’s collapsing!"

"Run!"

Immediately hunters ran towards the street.

Then...

Someone shouted from inside.

"There are children here!"

"They’re trapped!"

Jennie’s eyes widened.

She quickly started running forward.

Snow followed.

Roxy gripped her staff tighter.

The building moaned.

Stones crashed down into the street.

Everything was dust-covered.

Jennie reached the entrance.

City guards were trying to push the doors open.

"It’s jammed!"

"We can’t get in!"

A horrified woman grabbed Jennie’s sleeve.

"My son!"

"My daughter!"

"They’re inside!"

Her voice cracked in desperate sobs.

"Please..."

"Please save them..."

Jennie looked through the broken door.

The top floors of the building were crumbling.

There was no time.

Even if she rushed in now...

She wouldn’t be able to save all the children in time until the building falls.

For the first time since arrival to Azurewind...

She hesitated.

How...?

How could she save all of them?

Behind her...

Roxy looked at the collapsing building.

She heard people’s frightened voices.

Children’s crying.

They were calling out for help to their parents.

Her heart raced painfully.

Then...

All her mistakes came back to her memory.

All the accidents.

All embarrassing failures.

She remembered how she awoke the ancient golem.

She remembered how she froze Jennie’s cloak.

She remembered how she blew up her backpack.

She remembered how spells missed the target.

Damaged classrooms.

Failed experiments.

Sighing teachers.

Other students whispering.

"Roxy is talented..."

"But she’s hopeless."

"She always loses control."

She gripped her staff.

"... That’s right."

"I always fail."

Her breaths started coming erratically.

"I panic."

"I rush."

"I make everything worse."

She looked at the falling building once more.

Children were crying inside.

"No..."

She whispered.

"Not this time."

Jennie turned around to her.

Their eyes met.

No doubt.

No hesitation.

Only full confidence.

Jennie smiled.

"Roxy."

The young mage looked at her.

"I..."

"What if I fail again?"

Jennie shook her head gently.

"You won’t."

"... How can you be so sure?"

Jennie approached her.

Then...

She put a comforting hand on Roxy’s shoulder.

"You can do this."

Those four words echoed inside Roxy’s heart.

Not because they contained magic.

Not because of some exceptional power.

Just because Jennie believed them.

Unhesitatingly.

Absolutely.

Without any doubt.

Roxy slowly understood...

Jennie never laughed at her mistakes.

Never said that she was hopeless.

Never saw her as a burden.

She always...

Believed in her.

Snow quietly walked to the other side of Roxy.

He said nothing.

He just sat next to her.

Like a solid mountain.

His silent presence calmed her trembling heart.

For a long moment...

He finally spoke.

Very quietly.

"Courage..."

"...Is not the absence of fear."

"It’s choosing to move despite it."

Roxy looked at him.

Snow smiled gently.

"You have become much stronger."

"You simply haven’t noticed it yet."

A tear rolled down Roxy’s cheek.

She wiped it away.

Then took a deep breath.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Her fast-beating heart gradually slowed down.

The screams around her started fading.

The panic disappeared.

For the first time...

She was not thinking about how to cast the strongest spell.

She was thinking about saving children.

Nothing else mattered.

The building suddenly shook with violent force.

Big stones crashed down into the street.

A hunter shouted,

"It’s coming down!"

Jennie moved back.

She looked at Roxy.

"This is your moment."

Roxy nodded.

Her shaking hands steadied.

She firmly planted her staff into the ground.

With closed eyes...

She whispered to herself.

"No rushing."

"No panic."

"Just..."

"... One spell."

Mana started gathering around her.

Unlike last time...

It did not explode violently.

It flowed calmly.

Easily.

Like quiet water.

Snow quietly smiled.

Jennie smiled too.

Neither of them moved.

Neither of them interfered.

Because they trusted her absolutely.

For the first time in her life...

Roxy was not trying to prove her abilities as a great mage.

She just wanted to save somebody.

And sometimes...

This is precisely where the real magic starts.

The market district shook violently.

With an ear-splitting roar, another part of the ruined buildings fell down.

Dust swept through the city streets like a gray ocean.

Children were screaming somewhere from under the fallen walls.

Parents were wailing uselessly.

Hunters were trying with all their might to keep collapsing columns standing, but each passing second made the fate of the city hang in the balance.

Roxy froze.

Everything around her turned into silence.

She closed her eyes.

Slowly she breathed in.

Then out.

All the lessons of her teachers echoed in her mind.

"Mage who loses control will lose the spell."

Years...

She was always rushing.

Panicking.

Believing that casting spells quicker means casting them better.

Today...

She decided differently.

She opened her eyes.

Calm emerald shine was visible through them.

"I don’t need the most powerful spell."

"I need the right one."

She carefully lifted her staff.

Mana of azure color gathered at its crystal tip.

Unlike earlier...

It didn’t explode chaotically.

It was flowing calmly.

Peacefully.

Silently.

Ancient runes started forming under her feet.

One circle...

Then another...

Dozens of them.

The glowing symbols covered the ruins of the city streets.

The hunters ceased fighting.

"What... is that?"

Old mage gaped.

"...Those runes..."

"They belong to the Age of Ancient Kingdoms."

Her voice was almost a whisper.

"...Barrier Magic of..."

She inhaled calmly.

Neither her hands nor her body were trembling.

"...Aegis of the Azure Sky."

The world responded.

WHOOOOOM!

Column of blazing azure light flew up into the sky.

The sky itself started twinkling.

Thousands of glowing runes spread all over the Azurewind like stars in a constellation.

The circles combined with each other, forming huge magic array, covering the whole city.

Everyone was looking upwards.

"It covers..."

"...the whole town."

Transparent walls of azure mana were rising gently around Azurewind.

Elegant.

Graceful.

Beautiful.

The barrier seemed as if it was made of moonlight.

Exactly at that moment...

Last remnants of the Black Tide rushed towards the city one last time.

Waves crashed into the barrier.

BOOOOM!

Entire city shuddered.

Gasps were heard.

The barrier was rippling.

But it wasn’t breaking.

Second wave came.

Third wave followed.

Corrupted mana was trying to push its way through.

Ancient runes were shining brighter and brighter.

Every impact was being absorbed.

Every wave was repelled.

The barrier was standing firm.

Protected by the barrier, thousands of civilians were looking around unbelievingly.

Children were stopping crying.

Parents were hugging their families.

Old fisherman slowly raised his hand, touching the shining wall.

"...We’re alive."

Guild Captain laughed for the first time that day.

"She did it!"

"The barrier held!"

Even the experienced court mages could just stare in awe.

"Advanced city-scale barrier..."

"And she cast it alone..."

Snow was looking at the shining dome with a proud smile.

"She found her answer."

Jennie was watching Roxy with kind eyes.

"You never lacked talent."

"You just lacked belief in yourself."

Last remnants of the Black Tide crashed into the barrier.

Shining dome was still undamaged.

Then...

Black water slowly started losing its corruption.

Leviathan’s blessing and the power of the ancient runes purified it.

Sunlight was bursting through the clouds.

Its warm rays were reflecting from the surface of the blue barrier, making the whole city sparkle like a huge crystal.

The danger was over.

Roxy slowly lowered her staff.

Ancient runes transformed into countless shining lights.

The barrier dissolved into the air.

For a long time...

She was standing silent.

Then she collapsed with knees giving way.

She sat down on the ground.

"...I..."

She was looking at her hands.

They were stable.

No explosion.

No accident.

No loss of control.

Spell was flawless.

Tears were filling her emerald eyes.

"I..."

"I really did it..."

The tears weren’t stopping.

Not because she was crying.

But because, for the first time in her life...

She proved to herself that she could.

Jennie silently went closer to her.

Without saying a word...

She hugged Roxy.

Roxy buried her face into Jennie’s shoulder and was crying freely.

"I was so scared..."

"I thought I would fail again..."

Jennie was caressing her hair.

"But you didn’t."

"You saved everyone."

"You saved this city."

Snow was coming closer with quiet steps.

His tail was swaying once behind his back.

Soft smile appeared on his face.

"Well done."

Two words.

But they were full of the pride of a man who saw her growing up from clumsy girl, tripping over her own staff...

To the mage able to protect entire city.

Roxy was laughing between her tears.

"Thanks..."

Excalibur sounded kindly in Jennie’s mind.

"Seems like our little disaster mage has finally become a true protector."

Leviathan replied approvingly.

"Greatest magic isn’t born from the power."

"It’s born from the heart wanting to protect."

Jennie was looking towards the civilians of Azurewind.

Families reunited.

Children were laughing again.

Hunters were celebrating.

City was saved.

Not because of a single hero.

But because everyone was able to protect each other.

Standing beneath the clear blue sky...

Roxy was smiling happier than ever before.

The girl known as the creator of numerous mistakes...

Performed her first perfect spell.

Since that day, citizens of Azurewind remembered one more name beside White Hunter Raven and the Last Divine Wolf.

They remembered the young mage whose barrier protected the whole city.

Miracle Mage.

Roxy.