As I made my way home with Nanoha, a fluctuation space began to activate. From what I could see about Nanoha, I was easily able to guess that I wasn't the only one to sense that fluctuation in space. Nanoha and Yuuno probably sensed it as well. "Yuuno, Kuro..." Nanoha says out loud, ignoring the telepathy conversation and directly expressing her worries. "Yeah, we have to be on our guard." I reply to Nanoha. Retrieving the Class Cards back home also caused similar situations to happen, so I did have quite a bit of experience in this field of expertise. Does that mean the cause of all this is the Jewel Seeds?

"A new Jewel Seed has been executed and it's really close by!" Yuuno declares through telepathy, confirming my speculations. "So, what should we do then?" I ask to Yuuno through telepathy. "Let's head over there together, please, I need backup." Yuuno earnestly replies to me. "Okay!" Nanoha affirms with a resolved expression. "Nanoha, wait." I cut in, waving up my hand to stop her from running off. "Eh? What is it, Kuro?" Asks Nanoha. "By the time we arrive, the Jewel Seed will already cause severe damage. That means we need a faster way to get there." I say with a smirk, slowly approaching Nanoha. 

"K-kuro? You're scaring me. What are you doing?" Nanoha nervously asks as she steps back as I approach closer to her. Lifting her up from her legs, I place Nanoha into my arms and carry her bridal style, much like I did during our first battle together. "I'm going to go a bit faster than last time, so you'll want to hang on tight." I announce, much to the horror of a shocked Nanoha. "Eh? Nani!? Wait-" I begin to reinforce my body and dash towards our destination with Nanoha screaming during the whole trip there. Slipping out from the house, Yuuno also joined us along the way as we headed to the direction of a shrine located in Uminari city. 

A loud roar could be heard from atop the stairs that lead to the shrine upon our arrival. A mutated magical dog is seemingly shocking a woman into unconsciousness. Setting Nanoha down, I begin to activate my Archer mode. "Activate." I mutter to myself quietly as my clothes begin to change into the normal attire that I wear upon combat. Due to the Archer card and the essence being completely fused with me, I no longer need to install it, I'm only required to activate it. Projecting Kanshou and Bakuya, I rush ahead of Nanoha and Yuuno, only to find a woman with pink hair knocked unconscious in front of a berserk canine-like beast. 

I begin to slash quickly at the beast with my projected blades, causing it to roar loudly in pain and anger. It attempts to lift one of its paws to retaliate but I jump backwards just in time to avoid its attack. I proceed to project more blades, this time lining up a row of ordinary swords in front of the dog who proceeds to use its paws and slash the swords in half. However, by the time it finds me, I've already leaped into the air, my weapon changed to my black bow. "Trace on!" 

The peerless sword of the king. Once belonging to Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes as a prototype and used by Hector of Troy as a spear and also used by Roland, a knight of Charlamagne, King of the Franks. A sword said to be unbreakable and capable of miracles when used at its full potential. I reshape Durandal into the form of an arrow and pull it back on my bow before launching it point blank at the beast as it was previously distracted by the swords in front of it. The arrow pierces through the strengthened hide of the magically mutated dog, of course I made sure not to aim at anywhere vital. "Nanoha!" I shout to her as she and Yuuno arrive at the top of the stairs and Nanoha stops to catch her breath. "If you're going to use your device, now would be a good time to activate Raising Heart!" I say to her. 

Nanoha snaps out of her daze and turns to Yuuno. "How do I boot it?" Nanoha asks with her usual airhead demeanor to Yuuno. "Start at 'I am the one who has been given a mission' as a password!" Yuuno answers to Nanoha. "Eh!? I can't remember a spell that long!" Nanoha replies with confusion and desperation. Raising Heart begins to glow and transform it's shape into a staff. "Stand by, ready. Set up." The voice of Raising Heart announces as Nanoha grabs the magical staff. Yuuno happened to watch the whole display with astonishment and even I was left surprised. 

"Nanoha, have you ever watched any magical girl anime?" I ask suddenly to her. "Eh? Only a little bit but why do you ask?" Nanoha says in reply. "When you use your staff, I want you to synchronize your attack with me and shoot at it at the same time as I do. Once our attack hits, you need to seal it with your device. Got that?" I say to her, forming a strategy. "Umu, I'll match with you, Kuro!" Nanoha affirms to me, grabbing her staff and getting into position. "Barrier jacket." The staff announces as Nanoha's outfit changes into her combat one with the help of magic. 

I charge towards the mutated dog once again before I leap into the air with my bow, aiming straight down at it. "Trace on!" I shout. "Now, Nanoha!" I project another copy of Durandal and launch it at the dog in the form of an arrow. "Raising Heart... Shoot!" Nanoha shouts in English as a burst of pink mana is released in the direction of the dog at the same time as my arrow. Lying on the ground in defeat, the mutated magical monster dog glares at Nanoha and I. "Raising Heart, please?" She asks to her magical staff. "Alright." Her staff gives an answer to Nanoha with its usual mechanical voice. "Sealing Mode, set up." It announces. Bindings made of mana wrap around the dog as Nanoha begins casting her spell. "Lyrical, magical. Jewel Seed, Serial 16... Seal!" She shouts. 

Upon the defeat of the mutated dog, the Jewel Seed begins to float in the air. It floats towards the direction of Raising Heart before being completely absorbed. "Receipt number 16." The staff announces upon sealing away the Jewel Seed stone into its core. Letting out a breath of relief, Nanoha turns to the direction of Yuuno and I. "How was that? Good enough?" Nanoha asks to us with a grin of confidence. "Yeah, it couldn't have been any better." Yuuno compliments. "Not bad, you're already getting better Nanoha." I also add with a smile, Nanoha responding with a laugh of accomplishment.

It's true that Nanoha doesn't have the talent that Illya or Miyu has but she's up there and already quite impressive in her own rights. I turn towards the direction of the woman that was still unconscious as well as the dog which had reverted back into a normal shiba inu. "Shall we wait here until she wakes up?" I ask curiously to Nanoha and Yuuno. "I think that would be for the best." Yuuno answers. "I wouldn't feel very good if we just left her there by herself." Nanoha admits as well. 

"In that case..." I pause to think before turning over to Nanoha. "You're definitely going to need some training, Nanoha. I might as well take some time to teach you some of the fundamentals in combat." I announce to her. Projecting the swords of Kanshou and Bakuya, I head over to the center of the shrine and point the blade of Kanshou at Nanoha's direction. "Nanoha, activate Raising Heart. I'm going to have you spar with me so I can give you accurate advice based off what I see." I say to her more authoritatively. 

"H- hai!" Nanoha affirms, hesitating a bit at first to answer. "Raising Heart, set up!" Nanoha shouts, lifting her device into the air before it transforms once again into the shape of a magical staff. "I know this training method may be a bit harsh but... you'll get stronger very quickly. Your only objective is to survive." A smirk appears on my face, most likely sending shivers down Nanoha's spine as she subconsciously takes a step back. 

Rushing forward, I make an attempt to slash at Nanoha with one of my swords, only for her magical staff to subconsciously release a magical force field to protect Nanoha, colliding with my blade. "I see, if slashing and piercing attacks don't work, I'll just have to go with brute force." I analyze out loud, lifting up one of my legs before sending a roundhouse kick in Nanoha's direction. The force field deploys once again, but colliding with the force of my reinforced attack, Nanoha is sent flying backwards from the force of the collision. 

In midair, Nanoha manages to aim her staff forward in my direction. "Shoot!" She loudly shouts as a burst of mana is sent at me. Rushing forward, I bring my dual swords in front of me and position them into a cross section to block the mana attack. Seeing me get closer, Nanoha deploys another force field in an attempt to prevent another attack. I toss my swords to the side and project my bow once again.

Opening my hand, I prepare myself to deploy another Noble Phantasm. "Trace on!" I shout as a wave of mana surges from my hand, a construct beginning to form in the shape of a large spiral sword. "I am the bone of my sword." I declare in English with a monotonous voice, causing Nanoha to instinctively step back and let down her magical force field. That small moment was all I needed, I redacted the deployment of Caladbolg as it vanished into thin air and rushed forward. After getting close enough, I throw forward one of my fists which she blocks with Raising Heart, although she made the choice not to use a force field this time. Instead, Nanoha and I were engaging in a battle of close combat skills. 

Swinging her magical staff, she attempts to swipe it at me and go on the offensive, though I skillfully manage to evade and slip past without even needing to invoke the Eye of The Mind, projecting an ordinary sword from my hand and aiming it at Nanoha's neck. "Looks like it's my victory, Nanoha." I say with a smirk to her. "Yeah, you're super skilled Kuro." Nanoha chuckles in astonishment as she withdraws Raising Heart, and it transforms back into the shape of an ordinary gemstone. Her clothing changes back to normal and I proceed to follow suit, no longer in my Archer mode and the projected sword vanishing into nothingness. Nanoha and I head over to the stairs leading to the shrine to join Yuuno who was waiting there until the unconscious woman was able to wake up. 

"Let's see, you're not actually that bad, Nanoha. There's plenty of things you could improve on in the future. I noticed quite a bit of your movements were wasted and more mana was expended than it should have been. You don't have a foundation and were only relying on instincts, which isn't bad considering you just started fighting. That's a problem you could easily fix when you gain more experience and learn more about yourself and which fighting styles are more suitable for you to use. Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention-"

"Chotto matte, Kuro. There's a lot of things you said that I can't understand..." A blush of red begins to show on Nanoha's face. If this were an anime, I might even get to see smoke coming out from her head from using too much brain power. "Right, sorry about that." I reply with an awkward laugh. "One of the things you should remember most is to calculate and think about everything. Use the environment, cheat as much as possible, and do anything possible to win. There are times when you could have searched your staff for a spell that binds me and keeps in place which would give you more openings, you could search for a smokescreen type of spell or even a flashing light spell to also distract me and give yourself more openings to attack and plenty of times you could have used the environment to your advantage. What I'm saying is that you don't just want to fight blindly, you should make sure to think about your actions as well, Nanoha." I say, concluding my lecture in combat to Nanoha. 

"You're right, Kuro. I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Nanoha says with a smile before she leans her head onto my lap to rest as the two of us watched the sun begin to set. I smile to myself as I begin to pet softly pet Nanoha on the head. A lap pillow, huh? I've only ever gotten one of those from mama back home. Even back then, I never tried to show any vulnerabilities and weaknesses and I always had to make sure Illya kept her act together without worrying about myself. Now I want a lap pillow. 

The woman begins to groan to herself as she sits up after being knocked unconscious. "What the... did I trip and hit my head or something?" She asks herself. The pink haired woman stands up to see her dog happily running towards her, picking it up, she makes her way down the stairs of the shrine. "I guess this is where you say 'Thank you for the hard work' right?" Nanoha muses out loud. "Yeah, that's right." Yuuno replies in agreement. 

"Guess we should head home. Wouldn't want your parents and siblings worried, would we?" I tease to Nanoha with a playful grin. "Yeah, you're right! We have to get home quickly!" Nanoha exclaims in worry and surprise as she sits up from my lap. I stand up as well, and head down together with Nanoha and Yuuno.

The first day after Nanoha Takamachi became a mage is about to end. About magic, and even Yuuno and I, about being uncertain and the things she doesn't understand. She probably has a long journey ahead of her but that's fine. She's someone I care about and I'll make sure I watch over her just like I did for Illya.