Witch's Blood

Chapter 15

After three days of being on the road, we finally made it to Sunchel. We stopped at a wagon station to drop off the horses and Shinso tried to find the location of his master using the little mana he collected from traveling.

Thankfully he had just enough mana to track his master. If his master had been any farther he wouldn't have been able to track his exact location but just a general idea. We followed Shinso and I stayed very close behind Bakugo with Kirishima behind me. I kept my eyes on the ground, but I kept stepping on Bakugo's cape so I had to move to his side. The village of Sunchel was small, but it seemed lively and well.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kirishima whispers. I nodded.

"Yeah, yeah... I'm fine."

"Do you want to go back to the wagon?" I shook my head.

"No, I can handle it..."

"Why do you need mana again?" Shinso asked.

"I don't have magic, and I can't always purchase pixie powder. I can stretch mana a lot more than I can pixie powder. It's a plus if I'm getting it for free too!" I grinned widely as the mage stared at me.

"Shinso!" We all looked in the direction of the voice. A man with long hair and a black robe held out his arm lazily in the air.

Shinso's eyes widened and he began to jog toward the man crying, "Master!" We followed after him and the man's features became more apparent. The man who was the Archmage has greasy and messy hair, an unshaven beard, and a scar under his left eye. The Archmage studied and scanned us all from head to toe.

"I see you didn't find the prince yet," he said.

Shinso looked down at the stone street and shook his head. "I'm sorry master. But I found Midoriya and he was last with the prince!"

"I see you've grown stronger as well. An awakening?" Shinso nodded then stepped back to present me to the Archmage.

"This woman saved my life. I wasn't able to control the awakening. She and the princes have been traveling with me for a few days and I am indebted to her," Shinso said.

The Archmage studied me and I could feel his caution. "I thank you, Miss." He bowed. I lifted my shoulders in surprise.

"Oh no, It's alright! I'm kind of a wandering doctor!"

"But folks don't do these things for free, so what is it you want?" He got up and glared at me. I looked down in shame. I felt guilty. I do these things for free most of the time.

"She wanted a bottle of liquid mana. I currently do not have any mana, so I was hoping you could help me with that part, Master," Shinso nervously smiled.

The Archmage glared at Shinso and smacked his head. "Why you went and forced your awakening without knowing how to handle it is beyond me, but to make such a deal with a-"

"Archmage Aizawa, we've been traveling with her for a long time! She has no bad intentions!" Kirishima spoke. Aizawa stared at him and then Deku spoke up.

"Um, Archmage Aizawa, though I have not known her for long, I do know she is of no harm."

The archmage sighed and furrowed his brows. "I'm only agreeing to this because it is to return a favor. Follow me." This guy made me feel uneasy for some reason. He seemed to be familiar with everyone except me, so maybe he was just cautious of a new face. I can't blame him for that. It's fine. It's fine.

Kirishima gave me a nudge on the shoulder and mouthed an "Are you okay?" I nodded and gave him a smile. It felt uncomfortable to smile, so I just hope I didn't look forced. Thanks to the mana I'll be getting from one of the most powerful people in the world, I can use powerful magic circles to have the ability to protect my friends. I started to genuinely smile at the thought. It still felt odd, like it wasn't a real smile and I was just trying to convince myself. My smile faded and I stared at the back of the Archmage's robe.