They ran as fast as they could back through the tunnels they came through as the monster chased after them. However, as they drew closer and closer to the entrance, Hoshi could barely hear the monster's cries after them. It wasn't till they were away from the mines that Hoshi and the others finally fell to the floor! Grim cried out as he gasped for air, "This should be far enough, I think?"
"Owww... What was that thing?" Ace exclaimed in disbelief, "No one said there'd be anything like that!"
"That was no normal ghost, that's for sure." Deuce agreed with a grimace.
"Could that monster have been the reason the mines were shut down?" Hoshi muttered hesitantly as she recalled the destroyed breaker by the entrance of the mines.
"Let's just give up and go home. I'll happily take the expulsion if it means never having to fight that thing again." Ace declared exasperately.
"What?! Nuh-uh, not happenin'! I'd rather die than get expelled from Night Raven!" Deuce shouted angrily, "How can you give up when the stone is right there?"
"Pfft. Big talk from someone who's not even half the mage I am. You want that stone so bad, go get it yourself. I'm out." Ace huffed in disdain and turned around.
"Oh YEAH?! Fine, go back to your coop, you big chicken!" Deuce shouted as his eyes seemed to have changed surprising Hoshi.
"Whaaaaat?! Who're you callin' chicken, huh?!" Ace shouted back at him.
"Whoa, Deuce..." Grim asked in bewilderment, "Is it just me, or did you, like, turn into a totally different person just now?"
"Huh?!" The guy was surprised and cleared his throat nervously, "Sorry... Lost my cool for a second there."
"So now what?" Hoshi questioned curiously, "Can't you do something with your magic?"
"Can't you guys just blow that thing up with magic?" Grim nodded in confusion.
"The headmage said it himself... magic has limits." Deuce shook his head sadly, "If you can't strongly visualize your magic, it isn't going to happen."
"Visualization." Hoshi muttered in deep thoughts as her mind went back to when she saved Ace in the caves. Perhaps her magic was…
Ace nodded, "Using magic at a greater scale, or using different types of magic - those things require training."
Training…
Practice…
"Yeah, that's why magic academies exist." Ace nodded blatantly, "It takes a lot of training before you can snap your fingers and turn your thoughts into magic. And the more flustered you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes."
"Oh, I'd assumed spellcasting just came naturally." Hoshi noted in awe before glancing to Grim, "So that's why Grim can only summon fire."
"Nope, although if the magic's your specialty, you can use it more intuitively." Ace nodded.
"Hey! I'm gonna learn how to use WAY cooler magic than that, for the record!" Grim huffed in disdain, "I'm just hittin' my stride here!"
"Anyway, we need to find some way to defeat that creature and get the magestone." Deuce jumped in back on topic.
"Yeaaaaah. Just like the time with the chandelier, right? You "found some way," and now here we are." Ace shook his head and pointed at the direction to the mines with a scowl, "We just fought that thing and it creamed us. So what exactly is your plan here, genius? Because I sure don't trust you to improvise!"
"What?! You're the one who-"
"Aaand they're at it again." Grim grumbled in dismay as Hoshi walked past him as though not to have heard.
She walked up to them and with a firm gaze slammed her foot down with an angry glance, "Would the two of you knock it off already?!"
The two jumped in surprise as Hoshi's glare sent a shiver down their spine much to their bewilderment. Shocked, Grim muttered, "Whoa, that was loud. Where'd that come from?"
"What?"
The two looked to her in disbelief. It was only a little while ago when the guy was seemingly soft and quiet. Just the usual image of a 'good' little boy. Now, she was boldly stepping in between two teenage boys and scolding them without any hesitation or fear in her eyes!
"You said it yourself - we can't hurt that thing." Hoshi stated bluntly before bringing up a thought, "Why not try cooperating a little?"
"M-myah..." Her response surprised Grim as the little timid girl from earlier just suddenly vanished.
"Urk... But..." Deuce hesitated seeing the situation was now out of his hands, "But what are we going to do then?!"
"With Loosey-Deucey? No way. He'd get me killed!" Ace refuted firmly trying to regain a foothold of the situation.
"Like it'd be some treat for me to work with you?!" Deuce responded with a grimace.
She scowled. If this goes on anymore with minute arguments, she may as well leave them stranded with their collars stuck on the tree branches!
"What if we all just worked together? You know, what if we came up with a proper plan first?" She responded with a dry smile as she folded her arms calmly, seemingly not perturbed.
""Work together"... A proper plan? Like some kinda buddy move? Is that some kinda joke?" Ace sneered, "You always say the lamest things with the straightest face, Hoshi."
She could feel the corner of her smile twitch. EXCUSE ME?!
"Agreed. No way could I work together with him." Deuce scowled angrily at him.
"Yeah, but..." Grim shook his head as he thought to himself, "Gettin' expelled on the first day... That's pretty lame too. Maybe even lamer."
Hoshi paused with eyes wide in surprise…
Did Grim just-?
"W-well..." Ace hesitated.
Finally, the two were quiet. Seeing this, Hoshi shook her head as she agreed, "Yeah, there's nothing cool about that! However, if we want to avoid something as lame as that... I did have one idea..."
Hearing her tempting words, Ace finally crumbled, "Gah... Fine. Let's just get this over with, then. All right, Hoshi. What's the plan?"
"Music to my ears." She responded with a sigh of relief and began her plan, "Let's cut this short. We're low on time."
…..
After a while, the four returned to the caves. Hoshi approached the cave hesitantly, "Hoshi... Is this plan of yours really gonna work? I'm sca- I mean, I'm a little... uh, hungry."
"Don't worry! I think this could really work!" She responded with a knowing smile and patted his shoulder, "If not, then let's brace for the worst."
Deuce agreed confidently, "It really could. Let's go, Hoshi!"
Ace nodded with a smirk, "Heh heh. That's certainly not gonna help! Keep it loose and keep it lively. Let's do this!"
"H-hey, monster! I'm uh... I-I'm over here!" Grim shouted loudly into the caves.
Almost immediately, the monster sprang back out as though it had been waiting by the entrance the entire time, "Grrraaawrrr! BEGOOOOONE!"
"He's comin' our way! Hoshi!" Grim called out to him and jumped into her arms.
"Right over here, monster!" Hoshi shouted at him and dashed as fast as she could to the nearest boulders. Seeing him approach her to a good distance, she shouted, "That's far enough!"
"Grrurgh? Thieeef thiiis waaay tooooo... Neeevvva giiive stooones! Neeevvvaaa!" The monster shouted and raised his pick axe above their heads! Then it came down crashing the huge boulder into small rocks and dust!
"Eep! If it lands one of those punches, we're toast!" Grim whimpered as he scampered on all fours!
"Let's lure him as far from the cave as we can." Hoshi responded and quickly dodged the attack towards the pile of boulders.
"Begooone! BEGOOOOOOONE!" The monster shouted as it ran after them.
"We got him a good distance away from the mine!" Grim cheered.
"Now's our chance!" Hoshi smirked, "We're counting on you!"
"You bet. I got this! One extra-large gust of wind, comin' up!" Ace leapt out from the boulder and launched an attack at it.
"With a side of Grim's blazin'-hot fire! MYAAAH!" Grim blew out blue fire into the ferocious winds creating another giant fire tornado that had scorched the statue back then.
"Grrraaahhh?!"
Stunned, the monster was taken aback as it struggled to fight back against the flames.
"How's that taste?! With my winds fanning them, even Grim's feeble flames can become an inferno!" Ace laughed excitedly seeing the monster's fear.
"Whaddaya mean "feeble"?! Ya really don't know how to shut yer mouth, do ya?" Grim growled at him angrily.
Hoshi felt a strong urge to tell them to shut up, but she really can't lose focus now!
"The monster's afraid of our attack. Now's our chance!" Hoshi signaled, "Deuce!"
From the shadows, Deuce was already preparing his magic as he took deep breaths and shouted, "Just stay calm, aim carefully... and pull out the biggest, heaviest thing I can think of... Get 'em, cauldron!"
Out of the blue, a large black cauldron appeared above the monster and crushed him down!
"Gwaaah?!"
"Nailed it! The plan's workin'!" Grim cheered and taunted it, "Look, Hoshi! That monster got smashed flat by a falling cauldron, just like Ace did!"
She smiled and petted Grim's head warmly, "Yes, yes."
"Coulda done without the reminder, thanks! This has been one drag after another." Ace grumbled in dismay.
"Quick! While it's distracted, we need to get that magestone!" Deuce reminded them and hurried into the caves.
"Guh?!" The monster struggled to remove the cauldron as it screamed, "Waaait! Nooooooo!"
After hurrying in through the familiar tunnel, Deuce spotted a familiar glitter as he shouted, "That's it! That's a magestone!"
"Dooon't tooouch thaaaaat!"
The familiar voice of the monster caused them to jump in shock!
"Uh-oh! Looks like it's nearly wriggled free!" Ace shouted nervously as the voice inched closer from the echoes of the tunnel.
"Hey, Deuce! You gotta add more weight!" Grim hollered.
"Y-you mean something heavier?" Deuce panicked before pointing his magic pen back at the cave entrance and screamed, "Uh... I summon thee, cauldron! And also, uh... Um... Another cauldron! And a cauldron on top of that! All the cauldrons!"
"Nnngaaaah!"
The defeated sound of the monster sent a relief throughout their bodies as Ace exclaimed in disbelief, "Is that the only thing you know how to summon?!"
"Pipe down already! I'm worked up enough as it is!" Deuce stumbled nervously as he hurried towards the light! With great effort, he managed to pry the stone free. It was large in the palm of his hands and shone with a number of different colors! It was a very beautiful stone for certain. So, this is a mage stone...
Mesmerized by the appearance of the stone, a twitch from her arm woke her from her daze. Instinctively, she touched her left arm and was surprised by a splash of warm crimson red covering her whole hand!
She was hurt more than she had expected…
Yet, does she reveal this to them now? She looked to their excited gaze and realized that it would only dampen the morale if she reveals this right now. She grimaced and pulled out a white handkerchief from her pocket before tightening it around her arm.
"We got the magestone! Now let's get outta here!" Grim hurriedly reminded them as he looked back to Hoshi, "Huh? Hoshi? Something wrong?"
"Not right now. Let's hurry back before the monster returns." Hoshi shook her head.
"Roger that!" Ace nodded excitedly.
"MYYY STOOOOOOONE!"