"Hey, I've noticed you've been staring at me a lot. Do you have something to tell me?" As they walked along the forest path, Frog turned to look at Crono. He scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously when he heard the question.
"Yes... Sorry for being rude, but I wanted to ask you some questions about sword techniques," the red-haired young man replied, attracting the attention of the other girls.
"Do you need advice? I've seen how strong you are with just a wooden sword!" Lucca exclaimed, touching Crono's shoulder confidently. They had been like that since they were little.
"Of course, I need advice and explanations. There are terms and concepts that I still don't fully understand. Since there are no swordsmen in town, I don't know where to find a suitable guide," Crono said with a grimace before looking at Frog, who had narrowed his eyes.
"From your posture, I can tell that you've trained hard, but I notice the lack of your power, your 'Light,' as some call it, although others know it as magic power," Frog said suddenly. This caused Crono to raise his eyes in amazement while Lucca grimaced, full of skepticism.
Only Marle and Bulma had neutral expressions. The blonde seemed to know something, looking at Crono with newfound insight, while the blue-haired girl smiled playfully.
'It makes sense that Frog knows about magical power. After all, his appearance is the result of magic. Plus, with what he showed us earlier, it seems like he has control over his energy. This is getting more interesting,' thought Bulma, eager to see what changes might occur in this timeline.
After all, real life isn't an RPG game! She liked seeing these kinds of changes in the world and took them as further proof that everything was alive and changing.
The protagonists discovering their latent power so quickly? That would be interesting to see! Especially since Bulma felt that Marle was different from the other two young people.
Although she had a soft and pampered appearance, Bulma could sense that the princess hid great power within her. The princess controlled this power similarly to how a martial artist controls Ki.
Marle certainly knows more than the rest. After all, she dared to scan me the moment she saw me,' Bulma recalled the event where she felt the princess's subtle exploration. She responded by shaking her aura, a kind of greeting, so to speak.
'But... there's that supposed God of War at the end of time. It seems like you won't have to awaken the magic in Crono and Lucca. Well, at least I'll be able to fight a supposed god, which is promising enough for me.' Bulma had to resist the urge to laugh out loud due to her excitement at that moment. Instead, she watched the conversation taking place next to her closely.
"Magic power? Do you think humans have something like that? I thought it was exclusive to Mystics," Lucca said, impressed by Frog's words.
"I don't know what the future holds, but in this era, the best human knights depend on magical power to resist the Mystics' continuous siege led by Magus," replied Frog. He frowned slightly when mentioning Magus, who was responsible for Frog being neither human nor frog but an intermediate being.
"Is that what the glowing manual was referring to? Is that the strange power you used recently when you drew your sword?" Crono asked eagerly, gripping the hilt of his wooden sword to control his excitement.
He had gotten an answer! That question had troubled him for years, so Frog's words were invaluable to him because they allowed him to open a door to a path that had long been blocked.
"I don't know why you're surprised. The princess over there has quite a high command of her magical power," Frog pointed out to Marle, who was surprised to be brought into the conversation.
"Huh!? I thought only Bulma had noticed that!" Determined not to be left out of the conversation, Marle drew Bulma into it.
"Hehe, but I don't hide my power," Bulma said in response. She showed her open palm and generated a sphere of ki whose warm temperature made her companions feel comfortable.
As her power grew stronger, the properties of her Ki became more and more like those of her Plant form, a being favorable to nature. Thus, her energy felt good to living beings.
When Bulma displayed her Ki, several birds approached her. They flew around her body, and the boldest ones perched on her arm or shoulders. One even sat on Bulma's head.
"My energy is similar to the magical power you wield, but it's used differently. We call it Ki. Compared to other humans, you have more power, so you have a talent for harnessing your strength," Bulma added. This caused Lucca and Crono to nod. Meanwhile, Marle approached Bulma's hand and looked curiously at the sphere of energy.
"Don't touch it. It's hot. Let it cool down," Bulma warned when she saw Marle extend her index finger toward the Ki ball.
Then, under the gaze of the others, the sphere's color changed from purple to blue, and the warmth disappeared. Bulma changed the color of her energy and controlled it with such ease that its high temperature decreased.
"That's excellent mastery of your power," Frog said admiringly. He could see that the color change was practically unnecessary, but doing so indicated that Bulma controlled her energy, which reassured him.
Someone who could master their power was less likely to have negative tendencies because doing so required a certain level of poise and discipline. This indicated that the person could also control their instincts and thoughts.
Of course, there were still 'evil' people with excellent control over their energy or mind. However, in general, chaos and a lack of control were hallmarks of those who used their power for selfish purposes.
"That's obvious. All my training is based on controlling my energy," Bulma replied, watching Marle play with the Ki sphere until she absorbed her energy, causing the blonde to puff out her cheeks in protest.
"So, how do I start controlling Magical Power?" Crono asked the most important question, causing Frog to stop jumping and pause on the path.
"We don't have much time. I'll teach you how to meditate later, but there's an easier way to start: have someone help you feel the magical power." Seeing the young people stop, Frog looked at Marle, who blushed a little as she understood the implications of being watched by the knight.
"Oh, they only met a few hours ago." Seeing that both Marle and her friend Crono were blushing, Lucca rolled her eyes, sensing the strange vibe between them.
She was a genius! She may have had a lower-than-average EQ, but she wasn't so socially awkward as to not notice the blonde and the redhead making eyes at each other. Even though she was clueless, Lucca had noticed.
"I..." Crono tried to explain, but when he saw the mocking smiles of Bulma, Lucca, and even Frog, he realized that no matter what he said, he would only dig himself into a deeper hole, so he focused his attention on Marle.
"Will you help me?" the redhead asked, prompting the blonde to nod. She raised her hand and manifested her magical power, creating an ice floe that floated in front of her.
"My magical power tends toward ice, so you'll have to endure its inherent coldness," Marle warned. Crono nodded, ready for it.
After training with the sword for so long, he wasn't going to back down just because he was cold. So, under Frog's guidance, the young men held hands. At that moment, the redhead understood the princess's warning.
When Marle's magical power entered his body through his hands, he felt an intense coldness unlike anything he had ever experienced. His body began to shake, and the skin on his arms turned slightly purple.
"Don't focus on the cold or the pain, but on the flow of Marle's power. Follow it and find your light, Crono," said Frog, calling the boy by his name, something he had learned during the first few minutes of the journey.
Following the knight's advice, the redhead took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and experienced Marle's power, trying to follow its path through his body. Although it was difficult, his years of training with a sword played a key role in this matter, giving him the willpower to succeed.
Crono reached the depths of his being, but he could only feel Marle's energy, which would drive anyone to despair. He resisted this impulse and continued exploring deeper and deeper.
Finally, he found it. It wasn't a shocking revelation where he suddenly understood the truth of the world and learned the mysteries of the universe. There was no explosion or incredibly colorful image; it was simply as if he had found a new limb on his body.
His magical power felt different from Marle's. Instead of feeling cold, it numbed him. At that moment, small green electric arcs covered Crono's body, but instead of pulling away, Marle held his hands tighter.
"Um...when I said I wanted to find my light, I never thought it would be so literal," Crono said with a hint of amusement as he opened his eyes and saw his body covered in electricity.
"It looks like your lightning magic power. Mine tends toward water, but I knew someone whose power was similar to yours..." Frog said with a touch of sadness, remembering someone important from his past.
'Cyrus...it seems I've met someone who can carry on your legacy much better than I can,' thought Frog, no, Glenn, who smiled with satisfaction as he watched Crono remove the electricity from his body without needing any guidance from him.
"Wow, that suits you, you know? Now your hairstyle has meaning!" Lucca approached Crono and stroked her friend's spiky hair, which had become even more bristly after the previous burst of energy.
"And you're so talented!" said Marle, her cheeks flushed red because Crono hadn't noticed that they were still holding hands. She didn't want to let go either.
"I have two friends whose energy also tends toward lightning, so I have some advice for you. Although magical power and Ki have different applications, in essence, they are the same power." Bulma approached, placing her hand on the boy's shoulder with confidence. She found Crono particularly pleasant.
"Thank you..." the redhead murmured, feeling relieved and happy. However, when his gaze focused on their hands, specifically Marle's, his face turned completely red, and he let go of her.
"I'm sorry!" he apologized, making the princess laugh at his reaction.
"Don't worry. Should I help you, Lucca?" Marle asked. Lucca nodded and moved quite close to the blonde.
"Maybe I'm not your type, but please lend me your help," said the purple-haired girl with a big smile, making Bulma laugh loudly and feel a pang of recognition.
If her ancestor acted like Lucca in this timeline, then it made sense that she had inherited that personality. This little joke brought the two girls closer together because until then, they had barely interacted.
Thus, under Marle's guidance, Lucca underwent the same process as Crono and achieved magical power. However, something interesting happened. Since the purple-haired girl's energy leaned toward fire and the blonde's leaned toward ice, flames engulfed the former and steam enveloped both women.
"This power is interesting, but Crono, you should be thankful that I'm not interested in people of my sex, or I would take the girl away from you." Lucca calmed the flames covering her body and hugged her friend, who sighed upon hearing her words.
Competing against Lucca was a big no-no for him!
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AN: In-game, Lucca and Marle can mix their magic and attacks with new spells called "Antipode 1, 2, 3." Also, Bulma will have an important role in the next chapters (she's the protagonist, lol); this one is just to improve the Crono gang.