Somewhere in the light section of Nox's chaos garden.
*Faint sizzling sound*
"Watch out!" Alex said as he pushed Shinji out of the way.
"Hey! Whoa!"
*Thud**Swoosh**Sizzle*
A split second after Shinji fell down from being pushed, a thin laser suddenly came shooting through where he had been standing.
"What was that?"
"That was-!"
*Faint sizzling sound*
Stopping mid-sentence, Alex's gaze shifted to the side, and he pulled out his necrosis scythe, hurriedly swinging it around to deflect the laser that suddenly came shooting towards him using the flat of the blade.
*Swoosh**Clang**Sizzle*
Looking towards where the laser had come from, Shinji spotted a black vine growing clusters of white berries, many of which sported a charred dot in the middle.
"Are those eyes?" Shinji asked, pointing towards the berries.
"No, well, sort of but not really! These are 'Light-Ray Grapes', but many people just call them 'Laser Eyes'! The 'Black Laser Grapevine' they grow on, use them to store light element energy and ward off magic beasts!"
*Faint sizzling sound*
"Ward off ho-?"
*Swoosh**Clang**Sizzle*
Cutting Shinji off, Alex suddenly swung his scythe in front of Shinji's torso, blocking the light beam that suddenly shot out of one of the white grapes, leaving a sizzling charred hole in the grape it came from.
"Well, that answers that question." Shinji said.
"Yeah, normally it only happens if the plant is disturbed, but the grapes of a well-fed grapevine can randomly start shooting out lasers, leaving a charred hole in the white berry that makes it look a little like an eye! Hence, its nickname!"
"Could you please start with that next time?" Shinji said, a little annoyed.
"Sorry!" Alex apologized.
"How'd you even know it was going to shoot at us?" Shinji asked.
"Hm? Oh, uh, well, when it's about to fire, the grape will make a sizzling sound first! I heard a sizzling sound which alerted me to the grapes!"
"I didn't hear a sizzling sound?"
"Hm? Oh, uh, that might be because you're not an elf!"
Elves, like the many other variants of humanity, possess certain traits that differentiate them from other bloodlines. Aside from being a long-eared, androgenous, and long-lived race of people, prone to light colored hair and, much to a certain masked magician's dismay, tall slender bodies, they are also famously known for their great hearing and sharp eyes.
"That still doesn't explain how you managed to block a light speed attack?"
"Before the grape shoots, the area the laser will come out of will start to brown first! I noticed some grapes browning in our direction, then I vaguely estimated the laser's trajectory from there! When it comes to light speed attacks like that, the only realistic way to handle them is to predict and act in advance! Anyways, hurry up and help me steal these!" Alex said to Shinji as he began picking the charred laser eyes.
When the pair of magicians had separated from Kenji to wander through this chaos garden, their intentions were not simply to admire their master's handiwork or ponder the profundities of this mystical place. It was to rob and plunder as much as possible while she wasn't there to stop them.
"Senior, are you sure this is, okay?" Shinji asked, hesitating to approach the grapevine like Alex.
"I told you! So long as we hide the loot before she finds us, she'll just think it was a burglar! Now come on! These laser eyes won't pick themselves!" Alex said to his reluctant junior.
"No, I mean, won't these suddenly start shooting at us! I don't know about you, but I don't need any new holes poked through my body!"
Of course, like any true disciple of Nox, Shinji had no moral quandaries about robbing his master. He was more concerned with the matter of harvesting the grapes without the lasers turning them into Swiss cheese.
"Oh, that! Well, each grape can only attack once! It won't be able to hold onto enough energy for a second laser due to the hole in its membrane leaking out energy into the atmosphere! Most of these seem to have already fired their lasers, so as long as you keep an eye out for any intact ones, you'll be fine!"
"Oh! Okay then!" Shinji said as he walked over to help his senior pick grapes.
*Boom**Rumble*
*Boom**Rumble*
Suddenly, interrupting the duo's foraging, the earth began to tremble as mountain sized golems were kicking up dust clouds in the distance.
"Hm? Did you hear that?" Alex asked.
"Heard it? I felt it!" Shinji said.
"Funny? I kind of taste it!" Nox said.
"This will have to do! I don't know if it's a bad sign, but it'd be best not to risk it! Let's just go hide the-!" Alex said, pausing as he realized their duo had suddenly become a trio while he wasn't looking.
"So, what is it we're hiding general Crybaby?" Nox said, sporting a smiling mask on her face and a sinister glint in her eyes.
"…!"
"…!"
The two magicians just silently stared at their master with cold sweat running down their backs as they both tried to back away like they had just spotted a bear in the woods. However, the moment they saw Nox pull out the pain stick, Shinji turned around to run while Alex reached into his spatial ring for a teleportation artifact. Unfortunately for them, running at this point was futile.
*Swoosh**Bonk*
"AAAArgh! Shit! No!"
The moment Alex pulled out the spatial artifact, Nox had thrown the pain stick at his hand, making him drop it in pain. Gritting his teeth to push through the pain caused by his brief contact with the pain stick, Alex tried to reach down for the artifact he had dropped. However, Nox had simply stepped on a "Red Doppler Twin Orchid", turning her into light and transporting her over to its twin, the "Blue Doppler Twin Orchid", which happened to be located right next to where the artifact was dropped.
*Bang**Smash*
The moment Alex touched the artifact, Nox had stomped down her foot so hard, it not only broke the elf's hand, but the artifact with it. She then lifted her hand in the air, grabbing at what appeared to be nothing but empty air. However, not long after, a long slender creature became visible inside her hand. This was a "Flying Chameleon Serpent", a rare grade magical beast that utilizes its power of flight and camouflage ability to get the drop on its prey, and Nox had just grabbed one out of the air. Using some quick pressure points to incapacitate the poor creature so it wouldn't squirm around so much, she whipped its long body around the mad mage to restrain him.
"Ugh!"
*Swoosh*
*Muffled Screams*
Stretching out of the woods from the direction where Shinji had run came something resembling a giant Venus Flytrap with a spring-like stem, stopping just in front of Nox while muffled shouts could be heard from inside its mouth. Just as the plant mouth looked like it was about to retract back into the bright forestry, Nox grabbed the carnivorous plant, forced open its mouth, and pulled Shinji out by his hair.
There is a saying in this world, "Never challenge a wizard inside his own tower!". It refers to how one should never provoke a magician within their base for there is no telling what kinds of traps and magics they have prepared around every corner. Seeing as Alex would need to give his all just to escape his master in a neutral environment, his chances of escape while inside her garden were practically none from the moment she appeared in front of him.
"So, Crybaby, you're teaching your juniors to steal from me, huh?!" Nox said, grabbing the mad mage by the jaw to make him face her.
"S-So, hey! Is that a new mask? It looks-!" Alex asked, trying to change the subject.
"Do you know what you did wrong?" Nox interrupted as a tense atmosphere fell over them.
*Sigh*
"Yes!" Alex answered after letting out a big sigh.
"H-Hey, boss, i-its not what it looks like! We just thought we'd help you harvest the-!"
*Bonk*
"AAAAAAAAHHHH-! *Muffled scream*"
Silencing Shinji's screams of pain, Nox pulled out a dirty sock and shoved it inside her disciple's mouth as she grabbed him by the head to make him look her in her bloodshot eyes.
"If I wanted those laser-peepers harvested, I'd have done so already! I've been using that black hose to transport the light element out of my darkness biome to here, but that only works when it's got these eye-sprinklers, and thanks to you two idiots, I'm gonna have to manually import extra energy until another batch grows in!" Nox said before yanking the sock out of Shinji's mouth.
"I-I'm sorry! I won't do it agai-! *Bonk* AAAAAAAHHH!" Shinji said before getting hit.
"DON'T APOLOGIZE YOU DUMBASS! SAYING YOU'RE SOWWY TO SOMEONE LIKE ME WON'T CHANGE A THING! IT WON'T FIX MY GARDENING ISSUE, AND YOU'RE NOT NEARLY CUTE ENOUGH TO CHARM YOUR WAY OUT OF A SPANKING! NOW TELL ME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU DID WRONG OR DO I NEED TO BEAT IT INTO YOU?!" Nox shouted in his face.
"I-I shouldn't steal from the boss?" Shinji stuttered out.
"WRONG!" Nox shouted as she swung down the pain stick.
*Bonk*
"AAAAAAHHH!"
"CRYBABY! TELL THIS SLOWPOKE WHAT YOU TWO DID WRONG!!" Nox shouted at Alex.
"*Sigh* We got caught!" Alex answered.
"Ugh! What?" Shinji muttered in confusion.
"You can only blame the thief you catch! According to our master, if you can't protect your stuff then you can only blame yourself for being an easy mark, but a thief who gets caught can only blame his lack in ability when punished!" Alex said.
"That's exactly right! Which is why!" Nox said as she raised the pain stick.
"Hey! Wait! I answered right! You can't *Bonk* AAAAAAHHH!" Alex screamed.
"You may have given the correct answer my boy, but you still got caught! It wouldn't be fair to Slowpoke if I didn't hit you at least once!" Nox said to Alex.
"So, you're not mad?" Shinji asked.
"I'm not mad, just disappointed! Well, actually I'm furious, but that's less about you stealing and more about all the overtime I'll have to work to fix all the property damage my little burglars caused! Kids, am I right!" Nox said as her grip on the pain stick tightened and her eyes caught fire.
"He-hey! So, what were you and Aiko up to earlier?" Shinji said, backing away as his master's fiery gaze sent cold sweat down his back.
As it seemed like Shinji was about to get another bonk to the head, someone came to his rescue.
"HEY! STOP BULLYING SHINJI!!!" A shrill voice shouted followed by a bolt of lightning which struck Nox dead on.
*Crackle**Boom*
Floating down from the sky came a small red-haired child with orange eyes, lightning hair clips and pink butterfly wings. However, before the little girl's bare feet could make contact with the white grass below, a black rod came shooting out of the dust cloud the lightning bolt had kicked up, hitting the child's forehead and sending her plummeting to the ground in pain.
*Swoosh**Bang**Thud*
"AAAAAAHHH!"
"HEY! STOP SMITING MY GARDEN!" Nox shouted at the little girl.
Nox then used spirit magic to gather the residual electricity in the air to zap Shinji's leg while he was trying to sneak away.
*Zap*
"Ugh! Crap!" Shinji said, as he lost his balance.
*Thud*
"Nice try, but you're too slow! Now get over here!" Nox said as her silver hair grew in length as it shot towards Shinji, wrapping itself around his body so she could yank him back.
"Aaahey boss! So, who is that girl over there?" Shinji said, a little surprised by the hair thing and wanting to divert his mad master's attention away from himself.
"Ouchy! THAT REALLY HURT YOU MEANY!" The little girl shouted at Nox, crackling flames dotting her eyes in place of tears.
"Shut it and get in the boy already before you break anything else! And where the fuck is the other one at?" Nox said angerly.
"Get in the who now?" Shinji asked, confused.
"Fuck it! We're late enough as it is! I'll swing by later to pick her up! NOW GET IN THE BOY AND LET'S GO!"
"Hmph! I DIDN'T LIKE IT HERE ANYWAYS!" The butterfly girl said before turning into an orange ball of light and entered Shinji's body.
"HEY! What are-? Wait, are you-?"
"NO MORE QUESTIONS SOLDIER BOYS! ITS WAR TIME!" Nox shouted, now wearing a bicycle helmet as she grabbed Shinji and Alex and proceeded to step on another transportation flower.