I looked between the book and Mirajane, making sure that I was not about to make some kind of mistake.
"Alright, Mirajane. It says you need to circulate your magic energy through the uncontrollable parts and then envelop the stray foreign energy with your own power before dragging it back into your container."
Mirajane Strauss, the unfortunate girl who had her magic awakened in the most unexpected of ways, nodded at my words as she followed my instructions, while her siblings watched by my side, chewing on the fish that I grilled on the campfire.
It was testimony to my 'training' as the Arc family's designated babysitter, given how quickly I managed to console the children and win their trust.
Once I managed to break through the barriers, I found out that these two were quite the pair.
Elfman is rather shy, and despite his rather young but already bulkier form compared to his age group (must have inherited one hell of a genetic advantage from his parents), he is quite the introverted person.
Lisanna, on the other hand, is a chirpy and bubbly girl once she calms down enough, full of questions about everything around her.
In some ways, they reminded me of my little sisters from Remnant and even my brother from Earth, given Elfman's introverted nature.
Slowly, I felt Mirajane struggle to move her magic energy through her body, an expected result since beginner mages are not all that good at manipulating their magic energy or even absorbing Ethernano from the air (I don't count since I have a century's worth of memories of manipulating Aura, which is very similar to magic).
But soon enough, she managed to follow my instructions and envelop her magic energy around the demonic energy.
However, the moment she did so, the demonic energy went wild and broke out of the containment, extending her demonic features just a little bit more.
I sighed at the dismayed look Mirajane sent me and tossed the book back into the pouch.
"Looks like the general method of control for Take Over is not working for you. That means that your version of it is unique to you and something that requires an experienced mage to guide you in controlling it. A beginner book like this won't help."
"….Then, why don't you help with it? You are a powerful wizard, right?"
I smiled wryly at her whispered question.
"Because I am like you. I was born with my 'magic' and had to figure it out myself. As such, I am not all that experienced when it comes to other types of magic."
Technically true, since I was born with Aura and had it unlocked at Beacon's initiation.
And I did have to figure it out myself, since everyone's Semblance and the triggers for their Semblances are unique, not something that can be taught. Even if said teacher was an absolute prodigy like Pyrrha Nikos.
The disappointed look on her face made me feel bad for technically lying a little bit. But there is no way I am ever telling anyone about the true nature of my 'magic'.
The way that the Magic Council hounded me for months, and the reports that Dawn and Owen showed me about some place called the Bureau of Magical Development that was destroyed over three years ago, all but cemented my decision about hiding my true nature for good.
I was brought out of my thoughts when Lisanna tapped on my arm with an excited look.
"You said you were born with your magic, right? Can you show us?"
I smiled at her expectant look before rubbing her head.
"Hey!"
Yup, definitely like my sisters.
"Well, you already saw how I can heal people, right?"
The three siblings nodded at my words.
After calming down the siblings in the morning in that village, I used my Semblance to boost Elfman's natural healing, allowing it to heal the gash on his forehead near instantly, which was a testament to his good genetics since he was able to handle four boosts without any kind of training.
It was this action that won me the trust of their eldest, Mirajane, who finally agreed to my proposal of travelling with me and away from that village where she would probably be persecuted again after I leave.
Also, I refused to allow these three to travel alone since the woods of this world are filled with all kinds of monsters, something that Mirajane countered weakly, saying that she had experience fighting, but conceded to me when Juniper gave her a stare.
If she was not even able to keep eye contact with a juvenile Wyvern like Juniper, she had no hope of fighting something even stronger.
The point is, since they already know about my healing and my Aura burst that crippled a lot of the villagers, I might as well show them something interesting.
I raised my hand and coated it with my Aura while boosting myself three times to give a light demonstration.
The siblings watched the golden glow that surrounded my hand with fascination before I waved it like a sword, sending a wave of Aura that cut through the nearby tree, making it fall to the side.
Before it could fall and cause a commotion, however, I shot forward and caught it, putting it down gently.
"That is another aspect of my magic."
"WOW! SO COOL!"
Elfman nodded enthusiastically at Lisanna's words while Mirajane inspected the cut on the tree curiously, probably feeling the smooth cut on the tree.
Soon, our dinner at the small camp we made for ourselves devolved into inane stuff before I finally decided to pull out the map I 'borrowed' from the village chief.
"So, we are in the North-West of the Kingdom, near the northern mountains, but not far enough to see them with our eyes. That means that the closest option for finding powerful mages who can help with your condition would be Blue Pegasus, which is located to the East, over here."
I pointed out a large swath of land that was home to the small city that Blue Pegasus, one of the top guilds in the Kingdom, called home.
With experienced mages from all ranks, it was a powerful guild that earned its fame, even if the one member I met from that guild left a very bad impression on me.
Seriously, I would rather not meet Karen Lilica ever again as long as I live.
"…What other options do we have? I want to know about them before we make a decision."
I nodded at Elfman's question.
The boy had a very good brain, which was quite different from what his physique would suggest at a glance.
A very good thing to be sure of, since it would come in clutch during any future travels that these siblings might have.
I pointed South-East, towards the town of Magnolia.
"This is Magnolia, home to another famous guild called Fairy Tail. Those guys are quite rowdy but are good folk."
Then, I pointed towards the direct south.
"There is also Lamia Scale, which is another guild that is rising in popularity."
Then, I pointed to the southwest.
"Here is the base of Quatro Cerberus. Those guys are eccentric to say the least, but once again, good folk."
One by one, I pointed out most of the legal guilds that I knew of, circling them on the map for the siblings and myself, since I planned to check out some of them myself later on.
Finally, after nearly an hour of discussion, the Strauss siblings finally decided to go with Fairy Tail.
A good choice, all things considered.
However, before I put away the map, Lisanna pointed to the one spot I circled on the map to the far East.
"Jaune? What is that?"
"Hm? Ah! That is the location of a new guild that I heard about, called Cait Shelter. A friend of mine asked me to investigate it when I was free to see how they are doing."
An oversimplification. There was no way I was going to tell the siblings that Dawn was suspecting this guild to be a Dark Guild in disguise since they rebuffed every attempt made by the Kingdom's knight to conduct an in-person evaluation, hence his request to have me investigate it.
Dawn may be a little bit paranoid, but his reasons are justified.
There are only a handful of laws that every guild must strictly follow, laws that differentiate them from Dark Guilds. So, when a newly formed guild refused to allow the Knights to evaluate their main base to make sure they are following these laws, it is obvious that the Knights would suspect something.
"A new guild? Do you think we can go there before we go to Fairy Tail? I want to see how a newly established guild looks so that I can compare it to Fairy Tail later on."
A reasonable request, but why does she want to compare-?
….Wait a minute.
I turned to the girl in question, who held a mischievous look with a finger on her lips, obviously telling me to keep silent.
This girl, she is definitely planning something that her sister would not approve of.
Fine. Let's see what she is up to.
I turned to Elfman, who was looking at Mirajane, who was in turn staring at the map contemplatively.
"What do you two think?"
"I would like to see it as well."
"….Since Elfman and Lisanna want to go, might as well take a look."
I turned towards my baby girl, who was dozing off with her head on my lap.
"What about you, girl? Can you carry all of us that far?"
Juniper opened a single eye and glared at me, as if daring me to question her abilities further, making me chuckle and scratch her head, eliciting a contented purr from her.
"Alright then. Next stop, Cait Shelter."
Hopefully, nothing too serious is going on over there, and it is just a problem of miscommunication between them and the Order.
If not, and they really are Dark Mages in disguise.
Well, I hope they haven't done something worth enraging me.
I would hate for these siblings to see the Huntsman side of me because it would not be a pretty sight.
Speaking of the siblings, I'll have to look into the guild before the siblings, in case there is any danger. I guess it will be a good thing to leave Juniper with them while I investigate. That way, she can take them straight to Crocus and alert Dawn and Owen should something happen.
With a plan in mind, we continued talking about other things and preparing for the four-hour flight eastwards, to Cait Shelter.
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