"Is this where we're going to look? It looks terrible," said Marle, looking at the exterior of the large building in front of them. It was a church with somewhat mottled and cracked walls, but it remained quite solid.
"This is my last option. I hope we get there in time," Frog replied in a low voice. He sounded cautious because he sensed an eerie vibe about the place.
"I can confirm that there are two human Ki signatures down there, but there are also hidden enemies. This may be a good opportunity for you to master the power you have obtained, Crono and Lucca," Bulma commented, easily finding the energy of Queen Leene and another human whom she assumed was the captured Chancellor.
"Good! But is it appropriate for Crono to go with a wooden sword? I know you can cut rocks with it, buddy, but it's still wood," Lucca pointed out, embarrassing the redhead.
"It would be silly to go find a proper weapon, wouldn't it? It doesn't matter. I can manage," Crono replied. Bulma approached him, getting his attention.
"Hey, I learned this spell just for situations like this," she said, pointing at Crono. A beam of light emanated from her palm and struck the redhead's body.
"Sword Beam!" she shouted, smiling broadly. Saying something like that seemed quite amusing to her.
She had used the Magical Materialization spell, which allowed her to create many things, from clothes to weapons. For a woman like her, who possessed a wealth of knowledge, this spell enabled her to expand her practical abilities further.
She had learned this spell for her research and technological creations in particular. No matter what situation she ended up in, she could materialize the necessary equipment to overcome it.
If the situation arose, she had planned to use her magic to create a spaceship in case she was stranded on an alien planet without a vehicle to escape.
The magic worked because when the light stopped covering Crono's body, he had a belt that held a sheath for a metal sword.
"I'm not a swordsman, but I have a friend who is. He's taught me a few things. Judging by the wooden sword you have, you seem to use slightly curved swords, so I gave you one made of fairly strong metal. Try it out and tell me what changes I should make," Bulma said, pointing to the hilt of the sword protruding from the redhead's back.
"That...that's a peculiar spell," muttered Frog, looking at Bulma with a mixture of amazement and caution. However, he quickly dismissed the latter feeling. After all, if the girl had wanted to harm them, she could have done so long ago.
He simply admired the result of Bulma's magic, watching Crono easily draw the sword from his back and swing it to test its weight and balance.
"Can you create things out of thin air?" Marle asked curiously while Lucca approached Crono, touching the sheath hanging from his back and feeling its genuine texture.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I can create whatever I want. Certain things are limited. For example, I can't create a magic sword, which is ironic," Bulma replied with a self-deprecating smile. She didn't explain further, though.
One of the main reasons she had learned to use this spell was that her Plant powers were connected to life and creation, especially natural resources.
"It's quite beneficial for science. Some parts or machines are difficult to create, and a spell like this would be useful for someone like me," Lucca commented bluntly, not attempting to hide her intention to learn this spell.
"I can teach you. I was thinking of teaching you how to control magical power. I don't know any other magic, but energy control is universal knowledge." Bulma's blue eyes sparkled as she got what she wanted from the beginning.
To be a teacher! Or should I say Sensei? It doesn't matter! What she wanted was students because teaching is a vital process for mastering knowledge in depth. After all, when you teach others, you inevitably review your knowledge and may even learn new things.
"That look in your eyes tells me you had it planned." Crono, who had finished adapting to his new sword, looked at Bulma with a strange expression, feeling that she was too much like Lucca because their reactions were similar.
"It's just your imagination. We started like this at first..." Bulma easily dismissed Crono's thoughts and began to explain basic energy control to him. They learned the subtle differences due to the nature of the power used.
Marle and Frog contributed to the lesson as they entered the church. Exploring this place was relatively easy. First, they got rid of some enemies who tried to ambush them when they approached the organ in the temple.
After an odd session of playing a musical score to open a secret passage, Lucca and Crono began their training. They used the enemies that constantly attacked them as test subjects for their new magical abilities.
Lucca discovered that she could channel her fire magic into her laser gun. After receiving Bulma's advice, the purple-haired girl's shots became particularly dangerous.
Crono covered his body in electricity to improve his physical abilities. However, the adaptation process was gradual because using too much force would hurt him. After all, he was only resistant to electricity, not immune to it.
However, the boy was excited to see that he could try more advanced sword techniques. With the help of Frog, an expert swordsman, the redhead improved his knowledge in this area.
Bulma instructed them on techniques and explained how to develop them. She did not forget about Marle, either. Although she could not teach her anything about ice, she could teach her about raw magical power and the crossbow.
Marle was an excellent support! She could improve defense, attack, and speed. She could even heal others, a skill in which Bulma also had experience, and she guided Marle in it.
Thus, the supposed first dungeon, which was designed to be complicated for 'newbies,' became their backyard. Even Frog benefited from Bulma's comments and guidance, improving his strength along the way.
Rescuing Queen Leene was extremely easy!
...
"This guy is disgusting," Lucca said with disgust as she looked at the strange giant insect holding Queen Leene behind him. Her body was tied with ropes that glowed with magical light.
"I, Yakra, will rule the kingdom!" After uttering the typical phrase of a villain with delusions of grandeur, Yakra, the giant yellow insect, attacked.
White chitin spikes emerged from his back and shot into the air. The projectiles spun so intensely that they drew in the surrounding air, creating whirlwinds.
Bulma complained from behind the group of young people. She floated only ten centimeters above the floor with her hands crossed under her chest. She didn't want to intervene in the fight because it would benefit her self-proclaimed apprentices.
'Is this how Goku felt when he saw Gohan being beaten by Cell?' Bulma thought as she watched Crono, enhanced by lightning magic, evade the spinning spike that came at him. He fearlessly approached his enemy.
This stray projectile headed toward Bulma, who simply waved her hand and deflected the attack with the back of her hand, as if she were bored. She didn't need to use much power to do this.
Meanwhile, Marle created a sphere of frozen energy and fired it. However, instead of aiming at the enemy, she aimed it at Crono. However, what appeared to be betrayal was something else entirely.
It was a combined attack! The sphere covered the redhead's sword. He jumped into the air, raising his weapon high. In another context, anyone would have taken advantage of this to hurt Crono, but he wasn't fighting alone!
Lucca fired laser beams at Yakra, who had tried to attack her exposed companion. The beams injured his black appendages, preventing him from carrying out his attack.
Not only that, but Frog also approached the enemy, sliding across the ground using the water generated by his magic, and didn't let Crono fight alone. Then, both swordsmen struck the monster with their weapons.
"Ice Sword!" Crono's sword struck Yakra's chest, creating a block of ice that covered the creature's upper body and froze its hateful expression.
Crono placed his foot on the enemy's frozen chest and made two quick cuts, breaking the icy structure. He severely wounded the enemy and inflicted serious damage to its body, especially the neck area.
At the same time, Frog attacked Yakra's lower body. His sword was covered in a thin layer of water, which increased its sharpness. With this added advantage, he cut off Yakra's legs, leaving him incapacitated.
Yakra's body fell to the ground while the two men moved away, leaving the way open for new attacks from them or their companions. There was no need to warn them; they were ready to take action.
"Now it's our turn!" Lucca watched her two companions act before looking at Marle, who nodded when she heard Lucca's words.
"Iceberg!" the blonde shouted, creating an irregular block of ice in front of her. It floated in the air, looking similar to the block that had appeared over Yakra's body due to Crono's previous attack.
"Red Line!" Lucca exclaimed, pointing her right palm at the enemy and concentrating a large amount of flaming magical power in it. Her control was rudimentary, but she managed to cast her spell.
Although she had the impulse to create a fireball, Lucca was not one to settle for something so common, so guided by how Bulma had channeled her ki earlier, she managed to create something like this.
The two attacks struck Yakra's body. Due to the temperature difference, steam was generated, and an explosion occurred, shattering the monster's body and ending its life.
"You need to improve your teamwork. You almost hurt Queen Leene and sent Marle into nothingness," Bulma said, interrupting the group's celebration. She floated in front of them and pointed into the distance.
Queen Leene was unharmed, but her body was covered by a fairly simple purple ki dome. Bulma did not use a more advanced technique because Lucca and Marle's power was insufficient to threaten her — at least for now.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Crono apologized, even though it was not his responsibility. He bowed to the queen, who looked at the red-haired young man strangely, not understanding why he was doing this.
"Frog, I don't understand what's going on, but thank you for rescuing me." Leene did her best at that moment, ignoring the young men and focusing on the only person she knew among her rescuers: the former knight Glenn, now calling himself Frog.
Feeling much safer with him there, Leene gained a better understanding of her rescuers under the frog man's guidance and gave them her thanks.
Thus, the first part of Bulma's adventure came to an end. However, she wasn't going to follow the story as it was; that wouldn't be like her. She wanted to strengthen her new companions by getting straight to the point and attacking Lavos, who was responsible for many things in this timeline.
It was now time to go to the future and then to the distant past to confront the planetary parasite directly. It would be a short adventure, but it would spare Crono and the others a great deal of pain.
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AN: Yes, Bulma is a Sensei~ and she will meet Robo and Ayla, and then, she will kill a god(?) Like a typical RPG xD. Also, I will repeat myself: This arc is short.