Ember of the Starry Sky

The mission had been going so smoothly that Yukari almost started to believe Hinote's talk about "everything's part of the adventure" was just a bad joke. She tugged the cart along the rocky road with an annoyed sigh, grumbling about everything from the heat to the squeaky wheels. Hinote, as always, was walking alongside her, completely unfazed by the situation.

"You know," Hinote said, hands behind her head as if she was on a leisurely stroll, "for a delivery mission, this has been pretty uneventful. You'd think something exciting would've happened by now."

"Exciting?!" Yukari shot back, glaring at her. "We've been walking for hours, and the most thrilling thing we've encountered is a broken wheel. If this is what 'excitement' means to you, I think I'll pass."

Hinote smirked. "Oh, trust me, kid. It's only a matter of time before—"

Before she could finish her sentence, the ground rumbled under their feet. Yukari's eyes snapped to the treeline, where shadows moved unnaturally fast. Then, from the dense woods, a group of bandits emerged, their weapons gleaming in the late afternoon sun. Three mages flanked them, each with a cocky smirk plastered on their faces.

"Well, well, well," one of the bandits said, stepping forward, "what do we have here? A couple of travelers with a cart full of supplies? Looks like we hit the jackpot!"

Yukari clenched her fists. She could feel the heat rising inside her, her magic ready to burst out. But before she could react, Hinote stepped in front of her, hands on her hips, facing the bandits with a bored expression.

"Oh great, bandits," Hinote said, rolling her eyes. "It's like you guys are a dime a dozen."

The lead bandit grinned. "You got a smart mouth, lady. But we've got the numbers, and you've got… well, a cart of vegetables. Hand it over, and we'll let you walk away."

Hinote yawned dramatically. "Yeah, yeah. Classic bandit talk. Hey, Yukari," she said, turning to her with a mischievous glint in her eye, "how about you handle this? You've been training for five years let's see if you've learned anything useful."

Yukari's heart raced, not with fear, but with excitement. It was finally time to put all that training to the test. And these idiots had no idea what they were up against.

"Fine," she muttered, stepping forward and cracking her knuckles. "Let's see what I can do."

The three mages in the back exchanged amused looks. "You think you can take us on, little girl?" one of them sneered. "This'll be over in seconds."

Yukari didn't bother responding. Instead, she focused on her magic, feeling the familiar warmth of flames flickering to life in her hands. The air around her shimmered with heat as golden fire began to swirl around her body.

"Alright," Yukari said, her voice low and steady. "Let's see how you handle Flame of the Dawn."

Without warning, she thrust her hand forward, sending a massive golden fireball hurtling toward the lead bandit.

"Flash of the Dawn!" she yelled.

The fireball exploded on impact, sending the bandit flying back into a tree with a loud crash. The explosion created a shockwave of golden flames that knocked the other bandits off their feet.

The mages, clearly surprised, weren't laughing anymore. "What the—?" one of them shouted as he scrambled to his feet.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Yukari grinned, flames still dancing in her palms. "There's more where that came from."

One of the mages snarled, forming a ball of lightning in his hand. "You think you're hot stuff? Let's see how you deal with this!" He hurled the lightning bolt straight at Yukari.

But she was ready. With a swift motion, she conjured a shield of golden fire, blocking the attack effortlessly. "Shield of the Dawn!" The lightning sizzled against the flames before dissipating, leaving Yukari completely unharmed.

"Nice try," she taunted. "But lightning against fire? Not your best move."

Hinote was watching from the sidelines, arms crossed and a smug grin on her face. "That's my girl," she muttered, clearly enjoying the show.

Another mage, this time wielding earth magic, stomped his foot into the ground, causing the earth to rise up in a jagged spike aimed at Yukari. But she simply leapt into the air, golden flames trailing behind her as she soared above the attack.

"Blade of the Dawn!" Yukari shouted, summoning a sword of flames in her hand. She slashed downward as she landed, the fiery blade cutting through the earth spike like butter.

The mage's eyes widened in fear as Yukari closed the distance between them. Before he could cast another spell, she brought the blade down, shattering his magic with a single strike.

"Who's next?" Yukari asked, her eyes blazing with determination.

The remaining bandits and mages hesitated, clearly unsure if they wanted to face this fiery menace. But the last mage, the one who hadn't attacked yet, stepped forward with a cocky grin.

"You've got some tricks, kid," he said, his voice dripping with arrogance. "But let's see how you handle this." He raised his hand, and a massive ball of dark energy began to form above him, crackling with malevolent power.

Yukari narrowed her eyes. "You're going to regret that."

She planted her feet firmly on the ground, and with a deep breath, she unleashed one of her most powerful techniques. "Fire Wall!" she yelled, creating an impenetrable wall of flames between her and the incoming attack.

The mage's dark energy ball slammed into the wall, but it didn't even make a dent. The fire burned brighter, hotter, consuming the dark energy with ease.

"What?!" the mage shouted in disbelief.

Yukari didn't give him time to react. With a swift motion, she launched herself over the wall and straight at him, flames swirling around her like a blazing comet. "Flame Explosion!" she yelled, launching a concentrated ball of fire directly at the mage.

The fireball hit its target with devastating force, erupting in a massive explosion that sent the mage flying into the air. He crashed to the ground in a smoking heap, groaning in pain.

The remaining bandits, now utterly terrified, dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. "W-We give up!" one of them stammered.

Hinote clapped her hands slowly, strolling over to Yukari with a wide grin on her face. "Well, kid, I gotta say, I'm impressed. You didn't blow up everything around you. Just most of it."

Yukari looked around and winced. The surrounding trees were scorched, the ground was littered with charred debris, and the cart… well, the cart wasn't looking too good either.

"Oops," she muttered. "Might've gone a little overboard."

Hinote shrugged. "Eh, happens to the best of us. But at least you didn't burn down the village. Yet."

Yukari rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

With the bandits and mages subdued, Yukari tied them up using some rope from the cart. "Alright, let's get these guys back to Magnolia. They're a danger to the roads."

As they finished securing the bandits, one of them groaned in pain. "What… what are you two? You're not just some travelers…"

Hinote smirked. "Oh, we're just your friendly neighborhood mages. You know, delivering vegetables and stuff."

Yukari shook her head. "You're not going to tell them anything, are you?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Hinote winked.

Yukari sighed, but she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips. For all the chaos, this first mission wasn't half bad.