Inside the prison area of diamond kingdom's outpost, Marshall and the rest could be seen chatting.
"...So you two got caught all the way here, because of your pet beaver ran away, and you went out to get it?" Marshall chuckled, as he find the situation quite comical.
Lolopechka sheepishly nods, while Gadjah had a guilty expression, "No, it's because of me. I was too weak to protect lady Lolopechka."
Marshall looked at Gadjah's expression mixed with guilt and anger. Gadjah felt guilty that they were captured, and anger toward himself for being unable to protect Lolopechka
"...Don't worry kids I'm sure our friends will help us." Marshall smiled, as he comforted them
"You're right sir Marshall, I'm sure Undine, and our heart kingdom is searching for us. Not to mention Clover kingdom as well." The optimistic child Lolopechka said, as she regained her vigor by Marshall's words.
Marshall looked at the little girl's cheerful expression, he then chuckled as if remembering something.
"I wonder if that brat is also coming for us..."
"Hm? What was that Sir Marshall?"
"Oh... Hehe! It's a kid I know, he's about your age too. I was just wondering if that freaky kid is coming to save us."
As Chris, and Ali heard that they laughed a bit, as the thought of a kid being their savior, but also expressed their agreement.
"Wow... isn't he awesome Sir Marshall?" Lolopechka was awed, and believed Marshall.
"What? A kid without a grimoire is going to save us? Are you sure about that?" Gadjah, who heard it felt skeptical as he said to Marshall. Even he, the one entrusted to guard the princess, was defeated by Diamond's Mage Warriors.
Marshall just shrugged at him, "Believe if you want to, but Heart Kingdom's borders are quite far from here... Since this is more near to our village, that kid must be coming here, probably with Hans as well. But don't worry I trust Hans, and that kid Marco."
While Gadjah was still skeptical, Lolopechka was intrigued, as she asked Marshall, Chris, and Ali about Marco.
They told her about how he can hunt in his own, his fighting prowess, and how he beat a Magic Knight as a child.
Realizing how they were revering a child, they were just about to start talking trash about Marco, suddenly a voice interrupted them.
"Wow you guys, didn't expect to you guys to be this mushy."
They all looked at where the voice came from, as they saw a short figure wearing a fur hunting cloak. He had black hair that sweeps across his forehead and maroon colored eyes. Marshall, and the rest recognized this figure to be Marco.
"W-what the hell?! Speak of the devil huh?... Wait how did you get here?" Chris was bewildered, but then suspiciously looked at Marco, since he just magically appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh just tracked this place down with Hans." Marco calmly answered as he walked closer to their jail cell.
"No, what I mean is getting in here, the prison area. Aren't there supposed to be guards here?"
"Oh, I just avoided them, since I know where they are it's easy to stay undetected. Then I just listened for your voice, and went toward there." Marco explained to them as he pointed at his ear, indicating how his hearing is quite abnormal.
"Anyways... Hans is waiting so, I'm gonna bust you guys out first." Marco said, as he sensed some weird movements in the vicinity.
"...And how will you do that?" Gadjah asked with a look of anticipation and a hint of skepticism, as he stared at Marco getting a deep impression of him
As Gadjah asked, Marshall and the rest shared the same thoughts, while Lolopechka just stared at Marco in anticipation, she recalled all the things Marshall told her about this boy.
"Hmm... Let me try something." After some thought, Marco, for the first-time had developed an extensive application of his mama skin.
Taking a deep breath, he began controlling his mana. Soon a gray aura surrounded his entire body. He then reached out his hand onto the iron bar of Marshall's cage.
"You guys might wanna back away." Marco warned as, the iron bar began to vibrate intensely.
Marco had look of extreme focus, as he's not sure as to what will happen. A few moments later Marco decided to attack by swiftly kicking the iron bar.
A metallic noise resounded as the iron bar shattered. All of them marveled at the result.
"Wow!" Marshall and the gang just released some gasps, while the heart kingdom duo, could not believe it.
Gadjah and Lolopechka were utterly shocked by Marco's skill, not to mention it's from a youth that doesn't possess a grimoire. The grimoire that has existed since time immemorial, a divine object that dictated one's life, and something that gives power, wasn't even present this time. All the duo saw, was power that came from oneself.
"...Amazing! Isn't that very amazing Sir Gadjah?" Lolopechka exclaimed, while Gadjah himself looked lost in his thoughts. After a while his expression became straight faced, as he looked at Lolopehcka and nodded.
"How did you do that?" Lolopechka curiously asked.
"Hmm? Oh I just had a new thought I wanted to try." Marco looked at Marshall, and the others, then looking at Lolopechka as he continued, "My mana skin has the special ability to create vibrations, so I controlled this ability to weaken the iron bars molecular integrity, so a kick would be enough to break it." This explanation made everyone have a blank look as they couldn't keep up, although Lolopechka seemed to understand parts of it.
"Right, enough chitchat, let's get you all out." Marco then proceeded to let everyone out of their cages.
Soon enough all of them heaved a sigh of relief as they got out of their cages. Marco immediately went to Marshall's group to discuss their plans.
'This Marco kid really lives up to what sir Marshall, and the others said... His control over mana rivals that of our Spirit Guardians! I still have more to learn! But right now we have to get out of here. When I get back I will train with our Spirit Guardians!' Gadjah thought, as he felt one step closer to freedom. He then approached Marco's group, and coughed lightly to catch their attention.
"Sir Marshall, and Sir Marco, now that we are released, we should plan how to escape this outpost." Marco's expression immediately became smug as soon as he heard the words "Sir Marco", smirking at Chris, and Ali.
Marco then looked at Gadjah and pointed at Marshall and the gang, "Yeah, that's what we're discussing right now. You're welcome to join if you want." To which Gadjah nodded, and proceeded to plan their escape while Lolopechka just sat by them and listened
After deliberation, they quickly formulated a plan, where Marco finds their grimoires, and then escaping. Since Marco is the only that can properly fend for himself without grimoires, he must first get their grimoires to secure some fighting power.
"Alright everyone, wait for me I'll secure our "way out". In the meantime, you guys hide and ambush the guards that unfortunately wander here." Marco looked at them, as he laid out his ideas.
"You can count on us kid."
Soon after, Marco headed out and started to focus on perceiving the guards' regular chatter.
"Hey, are we relocating?"... "I just returned from patrol." ... "Geal watch my post for me will ya?" ...
Different voices filled Marco's attention, he soon heard a voice that just made his day better.
... "What will we do with these Grimoires?" ...
'Gotcha!' As soon as Marco heard it, he suddenly whipped his head in that direction, as he uses mana skin and heads toward the voice he heard.
Marco then navigated through the outpost, triangulating the guards position by their sound, and avoiding their general location.
"Beats me, though we're probably going to sell it to the royal court. They buy these for research purposes." A mage warrior said to his companion as they continued waking while carrying their prisoners' grimoire.
"Is that so. I wonder what they are researching that requires Grimoires?"
The mage warrior just sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not a researcher so don't ask me. But I think it should be about Grimoires."
"Yeah no shit."
As they continued their conversation. They suddenly felt a hand touch their head. But as soon as they felt that, they instantly fainted.
"...Well that was easy." Marco said to himself as he stared at the collapsed Mage Warriors. He then finished the job by sending another wave of vibration that was stronger than the one he used to incapacitate them. The Mage Warriors bled on their orfices, and died.
Marco then saw the familiar grimoires, and some of them even have a noticeable heart insignia.
'These must be their grimoires.' Marco then collected the grimoires, immediately headed back to the prison area.